Of Machines and Familiars
by tie-dye-flag
Summary: It's been three years since Oliver and co. have saved the world of Ni No Kuni. Esther's life is all about familiars while Swaine's life has begun to revolve around machines. So what happens when these contrasting people see each other again?
1. Chapter 1: Old Friends

**I do not own Ni No Kuni or it's characters. There are a few minor OC's, but I'll list them out at the bottom.**

* * *

**Ch1. Old Friends**

The roar of the wind rushed past as a purple dragon with majestic wings soared through the twilight sky of Autumnia. On its back was its master; a young woman with long blonde hair fluttering behind her face. Gliding along with the clouds, the cape-like cloth attached to the back of her skirt also floated freely in the breeze. The dragon made a gentle landing to the ground and the lady slid off the back of her scaled friend.

"Good boy, Tengri! That's a good boy!" She scratched the dragon behind its curled horns affectionately as it purred with joy. "Just hang around here a bit while I'm in Hamelin. I'll call you with the horn, okay, boy?"

"Kyah!" Tengri cried out and took off to the sky once again. The blonde walked towards a fortress structure resembling a pig. She was on her way to Hamelin, known as the Palace of the Porcine Prince.

As she entered the kingdom, her blue eyes were greeted by the sight of steampunk buildings and rust colored machinery. The air was filled with the sounds of industry and steam along with the smell of smoke and smog. She walked along the yellowed brick road, her heeled ankle boots softly clunking along-they were cute and dainty with golden bands around the ankles yet practical and comfy, made of durable leather.

Briskly walking, she eventually reached her destination of the Hamelin hospital. She entered the building and approached the reception desk. A brunette with a purple headband was attending to papers at the desk.

"Excuse me," The traveler asked the receptionist, "I'm here to visit Mr and Mrs. Ologyo. Do you know which room they're in?"

"Oh, the Ologyo's? Hold on a moment, please…"The brunette looked through some records, "Ah, room C208. It's on the second floor in the C wing to your left." She pointed a ruby ringed finger in the direction of the C wing. The blonde woman thanked her and left to the Ologyo's.

As she ascended the stairs, her golden bracelets clinked along the metal stair rail. After climbing the stairs and waking a few paces, she reached the room of C208. A man in a green shirt and a brown hat glanced up with thick glasses as the blonde entered the room. A lady with straight black hair was lying in bed with her right foot in a cast of white bandages. Her hazel eyes also saw the traveler.

"Hey, Derwin! Hi, Athana! How are you feeling?" The raven lady raised her head slightly to respond to the blonde, "A bit better, thank you." Derwin pushed his glasses up. "So did you bring the specimens we needed?"

"Mm-hmm! Here, everyone!" The blue eyed woman called out to her heart and out popped a Sprog Cog, a Bougie, and a Clinketyclank. The three familiars stared curiously at their observer with weird eyes-they have never seen a creature with pieces of glass over its eyes!

"Hmm, yes, these specimens will do nicely. Could we bring them closer to Athana so she can see, too, please?" The blonde nodded and carried the Clinketyclank over to the bed as Derwin had the Sprog Cog while the Bougie floated over by itself.

The lady's hazel eyes widened in fascination of these charming creatures. "My, how interesting…Derwin, my notebook and glasses, please?" The man rummaged in an oversized back pack and pulled out a glasses case, a worn out pencil, and an even more worn down notebook.

As Athana jotted down observations briskly, Derwin used a brand new Hamelin camera to photograph the organisms. The blonde calmed the familiars as all this commotion was going on-after all, she was a familiar tamer.

"Yes…interesting…brilliant! These notes and pictures will be extremely beneficial to the world of familiarology!" Derwin pulled out a few jumbo sundrops and 4000 guilders and handed it to the familiar tamer. "Thank you very much for your assistance. Both me and my wife will be able to advance the field of this science!" The man's enthusiasm was reflected in his wife-and-partner's eyes.

"You're welcome. I hope you get better soon!" The blonde exited the room and made her way outside of the hospital. She remembered when she had helped that man in the past during her adventures with a certain wizard. _"That man just loves his field of study to death. I still remember the first time we helped him with those familiars from the desert…and from Yule…and those evolved familiars."_ She smiled at the memories, of taming every single one of those creatures._ "His passion for familiarology hasn't changed a bit. And being married Athana, that other scientist, only seems to amplify their love of science. Well, I'm glad they're hap-"_

"Whoa!"

The lady had not been watching where she was going and tripped. She fell down the hard metal stairs. Tumbling to the bottom of the stairs with pained yelps, she was now bruised and skinned, but not seriously hurt.

"Ow…"She held her head in her hand to steady her vision; falling down a flight of stairs makes one very dizzy. So dizzy, that she didn't hear the announcement over the Hamelin speakers yelling, "Make way for the Royal Procession! Everybody, clear the way, I say!" The blonde didn't comprehend what the speakers barked, but did become more aware as she felt the ground beneath her shake. This was not an earthquake, but the heaving of machinery as the houses were pushed and steered away on the iron rails on the main street road to make way.

She remembered when she had first experienced this with her wizard friend a long time ago; the shaking of the ground, the moving of two ton buildings, the rumble of machinery…

"Hey, you need to get out of the road!"

"H-huh?" The woman was literally yanked back to reality; a calloused hand pulled her swiftly to the side of the road to the nearby houses, now with booths extended from them and full of proud, shouting Hamelin citizens. She was now standing at the front of one of those booths, getting a fantastic view of the parade like event.

Huge engines and tanks rolled through the road, now polished and shone in the lights of the streetlamps. Engines on wheels proudly hissed with steam with their loads of Hamelin machinery and army weapons. One float even had a screen on it, projecting a black and white moving image of a pig-man comically chasing another as they threw pies at each other-the children of Hamelin laughed and shouted with joy at this float.

The last member of this parade was a large moving stage surrounded with Hamelin guards. On the top and center of this stage was a grand throne of polished metal with red velvet cushions, although they were not in use at the moment. Their previous occupant was standing up and waving at the crowds as they cheered with vigor; it was their ruler, Emperor Marcassin…although many still called him a prince because of his looks; even though he was now in his mid-twenties, he still had a handsome face and long, luxurious black hair, giving one the impression he was much younger than he really was, like a prince.

"Hey! It's Prince Marcassin!" The blonde waved as his float rolled by.

"Actually, it's Emperor Marcassin, but some people still call pretty boy there a prince because of that face of his." The gruff voice that had pulled her away from the street from before was behind her. She turned to come face to face with a lanky man with curly brown hair. He had a slight stoop to his posture and a bit of stubble on his angular chin. What she didn't notice was his brown eyes staring at her.

"O-oh? Emperor? Has it really been that long…?" She turned back around to stare at the ending procession as the shouts were beginning to quiet. She couldn't see the man raise an eyebrow at her statement.

"Hm? You mean you've been here before or somethin'?" He came to her side and rested his arms on the railing.

"You could say that, yes. A long time ago…" She turned to face him, seeing his worn green trench coat and pale orange shirt underneath. He looked familiar to her, but she couldn't put her finger on it, so she ignored it.

"I first came here on a bit of an adventure about three years ago. Back then, the ruler was still a prince. I came back here to do an errand at Swift Solutions."

The man nodded. "I see. Well, things aren't that much different from back then besides pretty boy."

The blonde chuckled at this nickname. "Does the prince mind that nickname?" The man laughed along with her, "Haha, well, I don't know, he certainly hasn't made a law against it yet, at least."

The woman stood up, meeting the man's eyes again. "Well, that's good to hear. Thank you for helping me up before."

However, the man didn't answer her; he was staring at her again, but this time she noticed. Her eyebrows scrunched in a confused manner. "Um, is there something on my face? Something wrong?"

"Oh, sorry," he blinked out of his trance, "It's just that…you look really familiar." He scratched the back of his hair as he continued to think.

The blonde stepped back from the rail to see the man fully. Along with a wide belt, he wore old blue pants that were tattered at the edges, showing off long red socks with black shoes that had seen years of use. Now she took everything in about him; his face, his clothes…her brain was trying to remember where and when she had seen this man before.

"_I know I've seen him before…but who is he? C'mon, girl, think. His stubble, his coat, his gun, his-_

_Wait, gun? But he doesn't have one…does he?"_

She shook her head, sending her golden hair all over the place. "Wait…Do…Do you have a gun?" The man looked surprised at this. "…Actually, yes." He looked over his shoulder before carefully reaching into his coat to reveal a complex contraption resembling a pistol. A familiar pistol…

"Wait a minute…" He scanned the woman before him, his brain starting to recognize her. Her short top, her blonde hair, her harp-wait, harp?

The lady pulled out a colorfully painted harp. She held it and plucked a few strings, a little tune. And those notes sounded so familiar…

"…Esther…?"

She gasped as the man before her said her name, and then her brain clicked as well.

"…Swaine?"

"Well, if it isn't little miss familiar tamer!" Swaine smirked as he realized who he was talking to.

Esther placed her hands on her hips and leaned forward in frustration. "How many times do I have to tell you not to call me that? For Pete's sake, you haven't changed a bit!"

Swaine merely rolled his eyes. "Hmph, neither have you, babana girl. Except for all those bruises and scratches, of course." Esther took a proper look at herself; her elbows were sore, both knees skinned, and a few bruises on her legs.

"That was quite a fall. Did you become a stunt woman during these three years?" Swaine chuckled as Esther shaped her mouth into an annoyed pout. "…but joking aside, are you alright?"

"Yes, I think so. Nothing broken or anything…" She gazed at her knees, now bleeding.

"Well, I think we should patch you up before you go. C'mon, my home's not far from here and I don't have all day." Swaine walked away and gestured for Esther to follow him.

"You're going to patch me up?" Esther jogged up to Swaine's pace. "Back when we were traveling, it was usually the other way around, remember?"

"Yeah, you played that stupid Healing Hymn so much it got stuck in my head."

The two continued to walk towards the eastern edge of the city as Swaine led the way. Esther's mind was curious and full of questions; what had her friend been doing for the past three years? Did he have any new friends or life? And where did he live? Well, the only way for her to find out was to go with Swaine as they ventured deeper into the quieter streets of Hamelin.

* * *

**AN: Derwin's last name is not Ologyo, I made that up for the sake of the story. I mean, when you're trying to find someone in a building like a hospital you usually tell them the last name, not the first name, so don't quote me on that. And his wife was a minor OC I made for the story as well.**


	2. Chapter 2: Crownberry Juice

**Ch 2. Crownberry juice**

The streets of Hamelin here were quiet and almost hidden. There were few streetlamps, and even those few had dull lights. Rusty old houses lined these streets as if they haven't been lived in for a good year at least. Esther wondered if her ex-thief friend lived in one of these run-down homes.

"Hey, you may want to watch your step down here. We don't want you to fall down again." Swaine hollered out to his friend.

Esther looked down to see a flight of old stairs. She carefully walked down them as they creaked with age under her weight. Her heels made dull clunks down the road and echoed in the air with the smell of dirt and silence.

Finally they reached their destination; at the end of the street was a door with aged wood and an even older sounding creak as Swaine unlocked it with a dull key. He held the door open for the blonde and gestured for her to come in. "Here we are, come on in."

Esther walked in and was greeted with the scent of dust and musty emptiness. The house was poorly lit by a lamp and coated with dust. There was an unused fireplace in the middle of the living area surrounded by a humble couch and a tired armchair along with a simple coffee table bare of any decorations.

Swaine closed and relocked the door with a click. "Sorry about the mess, I wasn't exactly expecting company." He walked ahead before saying, "I'll go get the first aid kit, just hang tight a minute," and disappeared in a side room.

Esther walked to the couch and sat down. As the furniture gave way to her weight, a puff of dust was released-and this dust reached the woman's nose.

"Ah…Ah…AH-CHOO!"

"Gesundheit," The man came back holding a first aid kit, a grey towel, and a small bucket of water. He sat down next to her and began to clean the cuts on her knees. As he bandaged her scratches, Esther looked around the room, resting her eyes on the fireplace's mantle; it held a picture frame but was layered in dust, making the picture unable to be seen.

"So…" Swaine began as he finished tending to her injuries. "What sort of errand were you doing here?" Esther was snapped out of her trance and faced Swaine.

"Hm? Oh, well, do you remember Derwin, that familiar scientist? Back when we traveled with Oliver?"

"You mean that nutcase with the backpack and glasses?"

"Haha, yes, the very same." Swaine put the kit, bucket, and towel aside as Esther continued. "Well, he and his wife were trying to-"

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, wait a sec- _wife_? You mean that nutcase got married?"

Esther crossed her arms, "Well, if you wouldn't interrupt me, I might be able to explain!"

"Sigh…you never change, do you?" Swaine stood up, "Well, hang on a minute…" He walked off to another area with the sound of tile beneath his shoes-the kitchen, Esther presumed. After the squeak of a cabinet door and the clinking of glass, the man returned with two foggy glasses and a bottle of crownberry juice. "Dr. Glasses getting hooked up? This is something I've got to hear."

After Swaine poured them both a glass of the purple refreshment, Esther continued with her story. "Well, as I was saying, Derwin and his wife, Athana, were travelling here in Autumnia to explore and examine some local monsters." She took a sip of the sweet liquid, "While they were in The Pigs Iron Plain, Athana broke her leg. They went to the hospital and got Athana a cast. She couldn't go with her leg injured and Derwin didn't want to leave by himself, so he put up an errand in Swift Solutions." Esther stared at her glass and swirled the juice in the glass. "Being a familiar tamer, I decided to take up the task."

"But how did he get himself a wife, let alone a girlfriend?" Swaine raised an eyebrow, still curious about this issue.

"Well, I don't know the whole story, but according to what Derwin told me, he met her while observing some monsters in Yule about two years ago. She was a scientist like him-and was just as enthusiastic about it as he was-so they became partners, and eventually got married."

"I see. Figures he'd be with another one of his kind." Swaine glanced at his glass before taking a sip of the juice. "So…you've become a fully-fledged familiar tamer now?"

"Yep, people are asking me to help with all sorts of familiar things; how to take care of them, train them, taming them…and there have been a lot of bounty hunts around too, so I do those as well." Esther's eyes got an excited gleam in them as she talked about her life with familiars.

Swaine nodded. "Mm-hmm, seems like familiars are all the rage these days. Even my co-workers use them with their projects."

Esther leaned forward at this, "What, co-workers? You mean you got an actual job?"

Swaine nearly choked on his drink. "What?! Don't tell me you thought I was still a thief this whole time?"

"…Well…"

Swaine refilled their glasses before continuing. "For your information, I've been working as a mechanic at the palace for the past three years."

"Oh? Have you invented anything? What kind of things do you build?"

"Nothing big, just some military equipment." The man shrugged like it wasn't a big deal. "It's a paying job that keeps my hands busy, so I don't have to resort to stealing anymore."

Swaine looked up from his glass to see Esther's face; she wore a peculiar expression and he couldn't read what it meant. "Hm? What?"

The lady looked away for a moment. "Oh, uh, it's nothing."

"Well, if it's nothing, then why don't you spit it out anyway?"

She hunched her petite shoulders slightly, as if she was about to say something that was inappropriate. "…Well, you said you have a paying job, yet you don't look that well."

"Eh? How do you mean?"

"I know it's been three years since we've last met, but you still look the same. Thin, messy hair, bags under your eyes…you don't look like your taking proper care of yourself."

Swaine scratched the stubble on his chin. He never cared about his appearance much, so he never really bothered with the looks department; however, he had been feeling a bit tired lately. His job wasn't usually that straining, but for the past several weeks, he and his co-workers had been-and still were-hard at work making a grand new machine, meaning longer hours. Which meant less time for sleep or keeping his house clean. (Not that he ever had company or bothered to clean it in the first place…) He also had the strange habit of forgetting to eat. Often, and lately, he would be so focused on tinkering with a machine part or blueprint that a whole day would pass without a break for lunch… and would return home straight to bed with little-if any-dinner because of his tiredness. And his job wasn't the only thing troubling him these days…

"Swaine? Are you okay?"

He looked up to Esther's worried eyes. "Hm? O-Oh, yeah, I'm fine. Just think-"

_Brrring! Brrring!_

The cries of a telephone interrupted Swaine. "Eh? 'scuse me for a moment…" The man walked over to the ringing phone, its high pitched whine becoming silent as Swaine picked up the receiver to his ear.

"Hello, who's callin'?...What, you again? Don't tell me…Again? …Now? Look, I've got some company this time," He looked at Esther as he spoke to the other caller but his eyes suddenly grew wide. "…Wait, what? No, no it's not a girlfriend! For your information, I don't have one!" The man looked away from his guest to hide the embarrassment in his ruby red cheeks. "Anyway, can't this wait until tomorrow?...Okay, an hour maybe?...Really?...Uugh, your impossible." He slapped his face in frustration, "Alright, alright, fine, I'm coming, sheesh."

Swaine hung up, sighing in annoyance. "Sorry about this Esther, but that was one of my persistent co-workers. He says he's made 'another breakthrough' that needs my attention this very minute." He reached into his coat and pulled out some keys. "Here, Tin-Tin." With that command, a Beam-Man hopped out of his chest. Electricity sparked from its head as the heaving of its machinery worked its way to Swaine. His master slipped his keys into the familiar's large hands. "Keep an eye on Esther and walk her out of here. Lock the door on your way out and when you get back, 'kay?" The robot buzzed and nodded its metallic head up and down the best it could, understanding his task.

"Good. Esther, you can stick around. Finish your juice or whatever. Tin-Tin here will keep you company." Swaine opened the front door, but paused mid-way out. "I'm sorry we couldn't talk more, but my co-worker can be pretty demanding. Take it easy on your way out, and try not to fall down again." He gave his trademark smirk over his shoulder and out the door he went.

Esther was now alone with the Beam-Man and a half empty glass of crownberry juice. The air was stiff with silence and dust. Curious, she stood up and explored the house. The room where Swaine had gotten the first aid kit was a bathroom-a filthy bathroom. The shower had a coat of scum on the sides and the floor. The sink was in a similar state with a measly bar of cheap soap along with a dirty mirror.

She walked to the back of the home to find a bedroom with an unmade bed and worn out sheets. The closet was wide open and bare of any extra clothes. There was a small desk to the side that was littered with tools and screws along with a layer of dust. Old curtains covered the window and had looked like they had not been moved for more than a good while.

Her final destination was the kitchen that doubled as a dining area-but it did not look that inviting. A dark wooden table stood boasting a good coat of-yep, you guessed it-dust. The counters didn't look that sanitary and the sink was so ancient Esther wondered if it still worked. Her question was answered as she turned the faucet, allowing water to pour from the sink-thank goodness, it at least looked clean enough to drink. She opened a cupboard, finding a lonely loaf of bread. She explored the contents of the entire kitchen-all she found were a few dumpty eggs and a couple of apples. In a nutshell, the kitchen was almost bare of food.

Esther held her head to think; his house was covered in dirt, he probably wasn't eating properly, and for all she knew, he might not be even getting enough sleep! After all, he did have some pretty bad rings under his puffy eyes. She wanted to help him, but the question was how? "_I doubt Swaine would willingly let me help…But his home is a mess, he needs proper food…There's no way he would allow me to give his house a spring cleaning or make sure he remembered to eat…"_

Tin-Tin watched his master's guest the whole time, not sure what to do-he actually wanted to help her, but how? His orders were to walk her home and lock the door, but she didn't look like she would be leaving any time soon.

The familiar tamer sat back down on the couch and rested her elbows on her thighs, and her head on her hands. "Hmmm…There's gotta be some way for me to help him…" She stared off into space as her brain tried to formulate a plan to help her old friend. She reached for her glass of crownberry juice and drank the sweet beverage. She drank it the wrong way and began to cough out purple liquid with her spit. A little spatter of this purple mixture accidentally found its way on the coffee table.

The woman looked at the splash of dull purple and her blue eyed widened. The Beam-Man looked at the human before him, unsure of what this person was thinking-or plotting.


	3. Chapter 3: Tanks and Throw up?

**Ch 3. Tanks and Throw up?**

The iron engines roared with ferocity as steam hissed and gears clanked. With a vroom-VROOM, the new Hamelin military tank, Porco Moco, was ready to rumble. That is, had there not been a sharp pop and a leak of steam from the deadly machine.

"Oh, screws, not again!" A mechanic with bleach blonde hair ran to go turn the machine off, stopping the steam. He wiped the sweat off his pale forehead, now covered in grease. Another mechanic with feathery white hair jogged up with a toolbox the size of a chest. He pushed his glasses up before examining the problem under the tank's hood; trying to find where the steam had leaked out and interrupted the machine's functions.

"Hmm…Mmm…Rats, I can't see anything with these old eyes of mine. I may know what I'm looking for, but I can't see a da-"

The man was interrupted as a monkey creature hopped to his side, curiously looking into the heart of the robot. The man's eyesight may be failing, but he still recognized the familiar. "Babanas?" The Aye-Aye Catcher screeched cheerfully and jumped down to the feet of its master-a man with unkempt hair and worn-out clothes.

"Oh, Mr. Swaine, you're here!" The elderly mechanic made way for the other man as Swaine looked in, placing a tiny flashlight into his mouth. His brown eyes wandered for a bit before they rested on a broken pipe that was twisted the wrong way.

"Babanas, Gunther, c'mon out boys." The Aye-Aye Catcher sat at Swaine's feet as his Hurlabaloo jumped out, flexing its oversized biceps. "I need a different pipe, size A23 and variation 78." The familiars waddled away, knowing exactly what their master requested.

As the man continued to examine the insides of the tank, the other mechanics talked amongst themselves.

"Man, that guy must really know what he's doing if he knows exactly what kind of pipe is needed from the top of his head!"

"Well, what do you expect? He IS the Top-Head engineer."

"He's good at what he does, that's for sure."

"Yeah…and he seems pretty close to the emper-OW!"

Gunther had thrown a spare gear at the mechanic discussing his master's friendship with the prince; he knew his master never liked it when people talked about that, so he hated anybody who spoke of it while he was around. Meanwhile, Babanas carried a large curved pipe to his master who was almost completely in the machine.

After a few minutes of tinkering, Swaine closed the hood and stepped back. Walking over to a control panel, he pulled a red leaver and brought life to the once broken tank. It roared with life and moved with ease. Porco Moco had a short, sturdy snout canon that was suddenly being aimed at a mechanic with messy red hair and mustache. With a short pop, it fired.

"W-whoa!" The redhead jumped out of the way, expecting a deadly blow. However it was only a harmless pellet of rubber. The target was clearly confused, and then heard Swaine laugh.

"Hahahaha! That's what you get for making me come here when I'm busy, Sam!"

The redhead rolled his brown eyes in annoyance. "Very funny, Mr. Swaine."

"Hmph," Swaine shrugged his shoulders and crossed his arms. "So, I'm assuming the 'breakthrough' you were talking about was getting this hunk of metal moving around?"

"Yes, and thanks to you, it's finally stable! It's almost complete!" Sam ran up to the controls and enthusiastically toggled with the controls like a child and his new toy. The tank's tires rolled and the canon shifted left and right. "All we need to do is give it the official practice run and get it approved by the Prince! C'mon, I'll get the track equip-"

"Whoa, there, sonny." An elderly mechanic placed his wrinkled hand on the young man's shoulder, halting him in his tracks. "I want to do it as much as you do, but it's pretty late; why don't we do it tomorrow? Ol' Moco here isn't going anywhere."

"Well…but…We can…H-hey, Mr. Swaine! What do you think?" The young mechanic called out, but was not answered; the Top-Head engineer was gone, nowhere in the room. Questions rose up on all sides of the machinery room.

"Eh? Where did he go? Mr. Swaine? Swaine?"

"Did he just leave? Without saying anything?"

"Maybe he really was busy…He did say over the phone he had company…"

"Wait, HE had company? Who was it?"

As the workers continued to talk, Swaine made his exit from the palace. One of the many skills he had gained from being a thief once was the ability to escape from a tough situation without anyone noticing him-stealth was his middle name.

He rubbed his head, trying to ease his headache. He liked his job, but all the attention he got for it was making his head spin. Being in the spotlight simply wasn't his style-another thing he gained from being a thief.

As the man left the palace, he rubbed his eyes. _"Man, maybe Esther's right…I don't exactly feel like my best right now. For crying out loud, would it kill Sam to take a break from that stupid machine for-"_ His thoughts screeched to a halt as a Medixx flew in front of his face, concern glowing in its eyes.

"H-huh? Joules?" Swaine recognized the familiar and looked behind it to its master, who he knew very well.

Prince Marcassin stepped forward to Swaine. "Good evening, Gascon."

Swaine looked around, making sure no one heard his real name. "Geez, Marcassin, how many times do I have to tell you not to call me that? It's Swaine, got it?"

"Well, nobody else is around, so I thought it'd be okay…but that's not why I'm here."

The ex-prince snorted, "Let me guess; you followed me out here to try and convince me into another one of your 'ideas'."

"Well…no, actually, not this time."

"Eh?" Swaine was confused at this; what else would his little brother need from him?

"I've noticed you haven't been looking that well as of late…And I know you've been busy with that new tank." The prince's Medixx perched on its master's shoulder as he continued, "I was worried for your well-being, Gas-I mean Swaine."

"What, you too?"

"Yes, I-wait, what do you mean 'you too'?"

Swaine scratched the back of his hair. "The thing is…I met up with Esther back in the procession today. You remember her, annoying blonde tamer girl?" Marcassin nodded as he tried to hold back his laughter. "She fell down some stairs, so I invited her over to my place to patch her up and talk, but then I got called back here for work_ again_…Anyway, she said the same thing." However, the man then stretched his arms above his head casually as if nothing was wrong. "But I'm fine, really. I just need some sleep."

Swaine walked away, waving to his brother. "Don't worry, I'm alright. Just gotta get home." He let out a stretched out yawn, "'Night, your highness."

The ruler of Hamelin still looked worried but replied, "Okay…Good night…Swaine."

* * *

Swaine turned the knob of his home, checking to see if it was locked. The door didn't budge. _"Good, looks like Tin-Tin got the job done right."_ He knocked on the aged wood. "Hello? Tin-Tin, it's me."

Nothing. Nothing but the whistle of the silent air around him.

"Tin-Tin? You in there? Anybody?" The man knocked again and tried the doorbell.

Still nothing.

_"Maybe he's not back from walking Esther out yet? But it shouldn't take this long…should it?"_

Walking back a few feet, he pulled out his prized gun, a Highwayman's Handgun. Aiming at the door, he fired with a pow, successfully unlocking the door. He had improved his gun to work on unlocking doors as well as chests.

"…Bleughh…Hurgh…!"

"Huh?!" Swaine heard sickly noises coming from his home-his bathroom, to be exact. He ran to the door of his bathroom, discovering the source of the sounds-along with an unpleasant sight.

Hunched over the toilet was Esther, her blonde hair a mess as she coughed up disgusting blobs of red and purple. She looked up, her tired blue eyes half closed and her skin a sickly shade of green.

"E-Esther! What happened?" Swaine rushed over to steady herself.

The tamer coughed a bit before answering, "S-sorry…After you left…I finished the crownberry juice…b-but then I started to feel really sick…" She coughed a few more times. Tin-Tin appeared in the door way, worried for his friends. Swaine looked to his familiar and his friend, then glancing at the clock from the hallway; it was pretty late, and Esther wasn't in good shape.

"…Can you stand?"

"I-I think so…" Esther tried to stand up, using her friend as support. Leaning on Swaine's shoulder, she let him lead her into the bedroom. She was laid down and covered in the sheets.

"You better stay here for tonight. Walking you back while you're puking in the streets doesn't sound like the best idea right now." Swaine looked at his Beam-Man. "Yo', Tin-Tin. Go fetch a bucket and some water." Tin-Tin gave his master a salute and marched away. He returned with a wooden bucket as he spilled some of the water from a glass.

"Here, drink some of this and get some rest," Swaine gruffly commanded his friend. As she sipped her water, he placed the bucket at her side on the floor. "Aim for this when you don't feel so hot, 'kay?" Esther weakly nodded.

"Good. Here, Tin-Tin." The man called out to his familiar and back into his chest the robot went. "I'll be snoozin' on the couch if ya' need me. Get some sleep, babana girl." There was no response, so he turned around. Esther was fast asleep, her blue eyes hidden behind her dainty eyelids, and was steadily breathing.

Swaine smirked and made his merry way to his couch, collapsing on the musty furniture. Not the most comfortable place to catch some winks, but it was enough to make him fall asleep as soon as his head made contact with the dusty cushions.

* * *

The whine of the telephone awoke Swaine from his slumber. He woke up from his dream with a grunt, knowing all too well who was on the other line.

He groggily picked up the phone and brought it up to his ear with a yawn. "Hello? Sam?...Yeah, it's me. What is it this time? It's six in the morning, for Pete's sake…Can't this wait?...Look, I've got a friend here and she's really sick…" He suddenly grew more alert. "What?! No, no it's not like that! She's just an old friend of mine!...Honestly, where do you get these crazy ideas?...Okay, okay, fine. But don't call me again, you got that?!"

SLAM! The phone was roughly put back in its original position. The man made his way to the bedroom to check on his guest. She was lying on her side, curled up in the sheets. He walked over to the wooden bucket, relieved that it was bare of any signs of puke.

He sat on the side of the bed, gently poking at her arm. "Hey, you awake, Esther?"

The woman cracked open her eyes, awakening from her slumber. "Hmm…What time is it…?"

"'Bout six, but you probably still need some more rest." He got up and walked to the door before calling out, "Gunther, out you come boy." The blue Hurlabaloo hopped out, eagerly grunting. He caught the keys his master tossed to him, "You know what to do, alright?" The hurly familiar grunted again cheerfully. "Good," He glanced at Esther, "Keep an eye on blondie here and make sure she doesn't fall down again." The man smirked, expecting his friend to respond in her usual manner, but instead Esther merely nodded with her eyes half closed.

Swaine raised an eyebrow at this. _"Huh, I guess she's still sick or sleepy…"_ As the woman closed her eyes and snuggled under the simple sheets again the mechanic left the room and then the house.

After the sound of footsteps faded and grew further away, Esther got up, not showing any signs of fatigue. Swinging her legs over to the floor, she walked to the bathroom and splashed water on her face. The water was tinged green as her unhealthy complexion washed off of her face. Yesterday she had found a spot on the bathroom wall that grew a green mold. She had scraped off some and mashed it into a fine powder and applied it to her cheeks, giving her face a sickly appearance.

This was part of her plan to help her friend; she had to act sick to give her a reason to stay, and judging by the persistence of Swaine's caller from work, he would have to go away from the house. After concocting a fake mixture of puke (some crownberry juice and a few apple slices mashed up) and putting on the grand performance last night, her plan was set in motion. She kept her fingers crossed that Swaine would be forced to go back to work again, and luckily this happened.

"Okay, time for phase two. Come on out, everybody!" Esther's three familiars as well as the three she tamed for Derwin. They all lined up along with Gunther, who didn't seem to mind what his master's friend was up too.

"Alright, everyone, we're going to help Swaine by giving his house a nice big spring cleaning!"

The seven familiars looked at each other confused; what exactly was a 'spring cleaning'?

"We're just going to clean his house a bit." She walked over to the fire place mantle and wiped her finger on it, leaving a stripe in the dust. "I know it may seem like a lot to do, but the house is small and if we work together we can do it in no time!"

The animals were still a bit lost, but they trusted the tamer and cheered along with her. Grunts, chirps, clanks, and squeaks rang out, excited for their mission. The woman rummaged in her bag and pulled out a rubber hair tie. Tying her blonde hair into a ponytail, she turned back around to her cleaning crew.

"Okay, let's start Operation TLC!"

There was a silence. "What?" Esther's Electrongo crossed his wings in front of his chest and gave his owner a suggestive look, raising a feathered eyebrow. The master began to blush, "W-What?! It's not like that! Don't give me that look!" She turned on her heels, heading for the bathroom. "By TLC I mean giving the house some tender loving care, and that means cleaning it, nothing else! And it has nothing to do with Swaine! Well…okay it does but not in the way you're thinking about! It doesn't….mean we're giving…HIM…'tender l-loving care'…" Her face was now a lovely shade of red. Gogo and the other familiars chuckled at this before Esther tossed some towels at their faces.

"Th-There! Now let's quit it with the jokes and get to work!"

* * *

**AU: That energetic mechanic, Sam, was a small OC I made for the story.**


	4. Chapter 4: Dust, Dirt, and More Dust

**Ch 4. Dust, Dirt, and More Dust**

Esther's head popped out from behind the bathroom door. "So how's it going, guys?" Gogo the Electrongo and Seeds the Sweatpea Sprite gave their master two thumbs up as they scrubbed soapy rags along the shower walls, removing the scum. "Good! Here, heads up!" The familiar tamer rewarded her friends by tossing some chocolate bonbons into their mouths. The animals called out appreciatively.

The woman walked over to the bedroom, welcomed by the sight of Coggetta the Sprog Cog sweeping up dust into little piles as Clank the Clinketyclank swallowed the dust into his mouth. After every few bites of dirty powder, he would hop to the now open window and sneeze it all out, where it belonged. Esther made kissing sounds to get the attention of the mechanical creatures. "Hey, guys! You're doing a great job! Keep it up!" She praised them and tossed them each a chocolate bonbon.

Just then, she felt a tug at her waist-cape. Looking down, she saw Spooky the Bougie pulling at her cape with his mouth. "What's wrong, boy?" The ghostly animal guided his master to the kitchen. Gunther was attempting to pull out the stove with his burly arms while Leafy the Umberwood calmly washed the dishes with his roots and soap.

"Gunther! What are you doing?" The Hurlabaloo looked at Esther, suddenly realizing his way of cleaning was incorrect and put the stove down with a bang as it hit the tile. He pointed at the floor where the stove once was-revealing filthy tile and a few spiders.

"Were you trying to get there to clean the tile?" Gunther nodded as Spooky happily floated over and ate the spiders. "Well, I'm okay with that, but you have to put everything back properly once you clean it, okay? And try to handle them gently."He grunted and hopped up and down. "Great. Here you go!" She gave Gunther and Spooky each a chocolate and handed one to Leafy, who nibbled at it elegantly while the other two chomped at them hungrily.

Esther refilled her bucket with water and returned to the living area. She had managed to rid the couch and armchair of most of its mustiness and the coffee table shone proudly, free of its coat of dust. The fireplace was the next victim of her cleaning spree. She dampened a hand rag and wrung it out, making it into a dust collecting cloth. She wiped the mantle and the dust vanished. She picked up the picture frame to dust under it as well, and then stared curiously at it. The picture was iced over in a thick film of dust. She wiped her rag over the glass, uncovering the photograph it framed.

She then burst out laughing.

In the frame held a picture of Swaine giving Prince Marcassin a good noogie. The young prince's hair was bunched up in a frizzy mess on his head where Swaine's knuckles rubbed against the prince's noggin. The victim smiled at this prank but seemed to be pleading for mercy. Swaine wore a wide smirk on his face, enjoying this moment with his brother as he held the prince in a headlock and grinded his fist against the royal scalp.

The woman couldn't hold back her laughter. The thought alone was enough to make the blonde tear up as she cracked up. She rolled on the floor, holding her stomach with the photo. Just when she had sobered up, she raised the picture again, and laughed all over again.

"HahaHAHAHA! Oh, boy, that's funny, hahaha! Swaine giving a noogie to Marcassin, haha…w-wait a minute." Esther paused her laughing as a new thought entered her mind.

Swaine. He probably wasn't eating enough. And his kitchen was bare of any decent food.

The woman stood back up. "Spooky! Here boy!" Within a spit second, the Bougie dashed to her, awaiting her command. She handed him the damp dust rag, "Can you finish up here for me please?" The undead familiar nodded and floated to the fireplace, beginning to dust. Esther jogged to the door and called out, "Gunther!" The blue familiar threw her the keys and she continued out the door, locking it on her way out.

_ "Looks like I've got myself some shopping to do before dinner…"_

* * *

"Hey! HEY! Mr. Swaine! I REALLY DON'T THINK I MAKE THE BEST SUBJECT FOR THE PRACTICE COURSE!"

Sam franticly yelled at the top of his lungs as he ran like a killer was tailing him. Only this one was made of metal, resembled a pig, and shot out harmless yet dangerously annoying rubber bullets.

"Hmm, nah, I think you're doing just fine." Swaine deadpanned out as he manipulated the tank's controls with an amused grin. He continued to control the machine and make it shoot rubber test bullets at this annoying man. It turned out to be an excellent stress reliving exercise.

Even the other mechanics seemed to agree with their boss. Sam had forced them back to work at odd hours as well, and shared a similar frustration for the redheaded mechanic.

"Go get him, Mr. Swaine! Show him what Porco Moco's made of!"

"I think he's right about Sam being a good test subject for ol' Moco."

"Yeah…but shouldn't we give it the practice course too?"

"Nah, let's have some fun with Sam first. Besides, he seems to be on good terms with the Emperor so-OW!"

A rubber pellet had hit the gossiping mechanic square in the head. Without turning around, Swaine simply said, "Oh, sorry, my bad. My aim was off." His voice was as deadpan as before but if they had been paying closer attention the mechanics would have noticed the pulsing vein on the Top-Head mechanic's head.

The brown haired man finally abandoned the controls while Sam caught his breath. Swaine walked up to the once chatting mechanics with a serious look in his tired eyes.

"…Alright, we've had our fun, now let's get the practice course equipment out."

* * *

When Esther walked back into the house, she almost didn't recognize it; the home looked much different without its various coats of dust, dirt, and filth. The familiars were hanging around the living area, trying to shove the dozens of dirty rags into a large laundry basket and push it to the side without spilling it.

The woman placed her grocery bags on the floor and walked over to help. "Hang on a minute, guys." She grabbed an armful of the rags, "I'll help out, too." Now that the basket's cargo was evenly split up, the cleaning crew successfully pushed and carried the dirty towels to a side room that Esther did not notice before; a laundry room.

Esther curiously looked at these cube shaped machines; they didn't have these out in the desert or in other parts of the world. "So this is what a washing machine looks like!" She examined the insides of the device as well as the various buttons and switches on the top.

"Uh…hey, do you guys happen to know how to use one of these things?"

The familiars were just as baffled as she was, and even Gunther had no clue as he shrugged. Esther sighed, "Oh well…let's leave the laundry for later. I'd rather have to wash these the old fashioned way later then end up with a broken washer." She picked up a not-too-dirty rag from the pile. "Do you think you guys can just dust this last room for me please?" Gunther jumped up and grabbed the cloth and got to work. The tamer started to look worried, "Uh, the rest of you keep an eye on him, okay?" The other six nodded and Esther left to the bathroom.

She undid her ponytail and let her hair cascade down in a frizzy mess. Her body felt like it was caked in a thin layer of dirt and exhaustion. The woman peered into the now clean shower. It was small but still very inviting. _"I'm sure one little shower couldn't hurt…I'll just do a quick rinse, there's no harm in that."_

Soon the shower was turned on, and lukewarm water hissed out. Gogo heard this sound and noticed its source was from behind the locked door of the room he and Seeds cleaned.

"Hey, Gogo?" Seeds asked her friend in animal language, flying up to the Electrongo's side. "Why do humans clean themselves with water like that? Why don't they just lick themselves like we do?"

Gogo scratched his staff on his back in thought. "Chirrrp…I'm not sure."

"Guys, hey guys!" Spooky franticly floated over to the two familiars. "I think we have a problem!" Briskly following the ghost, the two familiars waddled over and jumped up to the front window. The sight they saw filled them with worry in a split second.

Gunther and Clank noticed the commotion and came over too, but couldn't see. "Hey, what's up? We can't see down here!" Gunther grunted impatiently as he hopped up and down. Even Leafy and Coggetta were curious about this event and joined the others.

"Cog-cog, what's wrong?"

"Is it a monster or something, click-clank?"

"Hmmm…I sense distress."

"Hey, would somebody PLEASE tell me what's going on?!"

Gogo nervously looked from the window to the bathroom door-there was still the sound of running water and his master probably wouldn't be coming out for another few minutes at least. "Uh-oh…this is bad…I may not be an expert on humans, but I do know that they don't like to see each other na-"

"Hey, are you even LISTENING to us down here!?" Gunther's patience was wearing thin, huffing with frustration. "Are you gonna fill us in on what's up or not?!"

Spooky turned around and shouted their answer, "It's your master, Swaine! He's coming!"

* * *

Swaine's shoes made dull clops along the worn road as he made his way down the path to his house. He didn't usually come home this early, but the practice run with Porco Moco was a success and the Hamelin ruler gave it the seal of approval as it cleared the test course of straw dummies and cones with flying colors. They had returned it to the storage room fully loaded and full of fuel, ready to be used at a moment's notice or at the next Royal Procession.

He had two good reasons for leaving the palace so early; one, the tank was finally complete so there wouldn't have been any real work until the next day or so. Two, he overheard his brother planning another one of his 'ideas'.

"Geez, I know my little bro's got good intentions, but I really wish he would just let me be with my life. Honestly, is that too much to ask?" The man thought aloud as he rubbed his eyes. His eyes suddenly shot open as he heard a familiar grunting approach him.

Gunther hopped out from the door of his house and jumped to his master. "Eh? Gunther? Somethin' up boy?" Gunther pulled at Swaine's trench coat, dragging him in the opposite direction of his house. "Huh? What're you doing, Gunther?"

* * *

"Phew, looks like Gunther can buy us some time." Seeds wiped her forehead with a tiny arm, now relieved. Just then, the bathroom door opened. Esther's wet-haired head popped out, curiously staring.

"Hey, is everything alright, guys? I heard-hey, wait, where's Gunther?"

She walked out with a pale blue towel wrapped around her and cautiously peered out the window too. Her eyes widened as she took in what she saw. The blue Hurlabaloo was pulling Swaine by his green coat away from the house, dragging Swaine along with him as they disappeared behind a corner.

Esther collapsed against a wall and slowly slid to the floor, blushing. "Oh my God…that was too close. Gunther, thank you, thank you, thank you. You just saved me from the most embarrassing moment of my life."

After drying off and putting back on her clothes she began phase three of Operation TLC, hoping to be done by the time her friends returned.


	5. Chapter 5: Care For Some Spaghetti?

**Ch5. Care for Some Spaghetti?**

"Look, Gunther, I'm not sure what your trying to hide, but we're going back home, so come on!" Swaine glared at his burly familiar; he had followed him all over the city for the past hour and his patience had reached its limit. The Hurlabaloo sighed, tired of forcing his master halfway across the city. He jumped back into Swaine's chest with a grunt.

"Finally…Now I can get home." The mechanic turned around and made his way through the evening streets of Hamelin to his rundown place. After walking for a good half hour, he reached his destination.

_"Wonder what sort of mess Gunther was trying to hide…maybe he broke something?"_

Swaine reached out his gun and unlocked the door, not bothering to get the keys from Gunther. Before his hand could reach for the door handle, a familiar purple Electrongo opened it for him and peaked out with a chirp.

"Wha-? Aren't you Esther's familiar? What was your name again…Bozo?" The man scratched his stubble in thought but then grimaced with pain as the bird pecked angrily at a certain area.

"OWCH! Ow ow ow…" The poor man bent over in pain, holding the spot where the bird had pecked with fury. "S-stupid bird…right where it hurts…ow…"

Gogo glared at the man, demanding an apology. "Ow…wait, your name's Gogo, right? S-sorry, my bad." Swaine brought his head up to make eye contact with the familiar. After a minute of staring Gogo chirped an 'hmph' and turned to the house.

The first thing the man noticed when he walked into his home was the air wasn't filled with its usual mustiness. The living area was free of its dust and even the picture on the fireplace was now viewable. He also noticed the smell in the air no longer consisted of dust but now smelled of something cooking.

_"What's that smell…sniff, sniff…doesn't smell half-bad, actually…"_

He followed the smell into his once-filthy kitchen. Standing in front of the stove was a familiar blonde woman stirring a boiling mixture in a large red pot. Gogo had waddled over and chirped cheerfully to his master. Esther looked down to her side and gave her precious pet a smile as her blue eyes shone. Opening the lid of a smaller green pot, she sprinkled some spices into a thick red sauce and stirred it in, humming to herself. She was completely oblivious to the mechanic standing behind her.

However, a certain Bougie was aware of their guest. Swaine suddenly looked to his side to see a spooky familiar nuzzling his arm as it purred. It then floated up to his face and under his chin. The sensation was quite ticklish and Swaine couldn't help but chuckle as this little ghost continued to show affection.

This laugh caught Esther's attention as she turned around with a gasp, but then found herself laughing as the Bougie buried itself into Swaine's curly hair.

"Aww, he likes you!"

"Heh, think you could get this guy out of my hair?"

"Okay, here Spooky!"

With that the little ghost glided over to Esther, now purring as he rubbed by her slender legs. "Aw, aren't you an affectionate little guy? Ooh, yes you are!" She knelt down and scratched the Bougie on the head adoringly.

"Anyway, what are you still doing here, blondie?"

The man had an oven mitt tossed in his face with a muffled slap. The tosser was not happy. "Seriously, enough with the nicknames already! I've got a name you know!"

"So…are you gonna explain what you've been doing the past few hours or what?"

"W-well…" Esther turned back around and stirred the food in the large red pot, "I wanted to help you…You're house was a mess, and you didn't look so good…and I knew you wouldn't let me help you willingly, so about last night…I wasn't really sick. It was an act."

"So you became a little actress last night, eh? Quite an elaborate performance."

The woman nodded as she added some pepper to the pot. When the man peered over he saw what she was cooking; spaghetti. "Anyway, I figured that 'persistent co-worker' of yours would call you again and make you go back to work, even though you had company…" She added some garlic and continued, "And while you were away…well, my familiars and I gave your house a big spring cleaning."

"Huh. So let me get this straight; you pretended to be sick to your stomach to stay over at my place and then rummaged around my house, sticking your nose where it doesn't belong."

"Hey! We didn't do that! I just told you we cleaned it, nothing else! Besides, your house was filthy! I practically did you a favor!"

Swaine paused for a moment and then picked up one of her long bangs of hair. He rubbed the hair between his coarse fingers. "…A bit damp. I take it you used my shower without my permission as well?"

"I-It was just a quick rinse, honest!"

Swaine crossed his arms. "You're nothing but a nosy little-omph!" He was stopped as another oven mitt was thrown at his face.

"Well, you know what you are? A selfish arrogant idiot who acts like a-oof!" The oven mitt was tossed back to her face. Esther returned it in the same fashion. "Take this!"

"You're an annoying brat!"

"You're a coward!"

"You're impossible!"

"You're insipid!"

"You're-wait, you're food's burning!"

"You-huh? Oh no!"

Quickly turning around, she grabbed the other mitt and put them both on as she opened the oven, a faint burning scent lingering in the air. She pulled out a slightly burnt lump of bread.

"Oh, phew, it's not too bad, just on the sides." The air was now filled with the smell of slightly burnt babana bread. The tamer placed the food on the counter and pulled off the worn oven mitts. Gogo and Spooky stared at the sweet bread hungrily, licking their chops. Their master waved her finger, "Oh no, not until it's cool. You don't want to burn your mouths, do you?" The two animals hung their heads down in disappointment.

"So you messed around with my house, borrowed my shower, and used my kitchen. All this behind my back and-OW!" Swaine stopped mid-sentence as Esther slapped her hand across his cheek. It wasn't a serious slap, but it still stung. The man raised a hand to his cheek, wincing at the tenderness.

The blonde turned around with her nose in the air and continued with her cooking. "Hmph. I had just made this delicious dinner for you to eat, but if you're going to act that way, I guess I won't let you have any." She stirred the tasty meal in the pot, giving the air a scrumptious smell; although Swaine pretended not to notice.

"Fine by me. I wasn't even hungry."

Unfortunately, his stomach decided to use that very moment to disagree with him as it growled pleadingly. The man mentally slapped his forehead. _"Nice one, Swaine. Real smooth."_

His stomach wasn't the only one who had other ideas. Gunther popped out of his chest and looked up to the mechanic with big eyes.

"What?"

The Hurlabaloo's gaze rested hungrily on the now cool babana bread as his large mouth watered. The Bougie also floated over and looked at the man with pleading eyes. Even Gogo waddled over and raised a feathery eyebrow to the stubborn man.

Esther saw this staring contest between the familiars and her friend. Tapping her chin for a moment, she spoke. "Well, I _might_ let you have some _if_ you apologize."

Swaine looked from the cook to the familiars, then back and again.

"_Dammit. Dammit, dammit, dammit…"_

"…Alright, fine…I'm sorry. There, you happy now?"

Esther was silent for a minute, then leaned forward and flicked his nose with her finger. Grinning as he scratched his nose, she said, "Alright, apology accepted."

* * *

"Careful with those! We don't want any spills!"

A soldier called out to another pair of soldiers struggling to carry a large barrel. The label was in bold black print and stated the name of its chemical contents; 'ASTIFIZED HEXALUCID ACID'.

"There! That's the last one!" Shoving the last iron barrel on the high self, the soldier took off his helmet and wiped his forehead, revealing curly ash-blonde hair. The other one did the same, uncovering his short black hair.

"Yeah…we're finally done. But why do we have to put the stuff here? This is a storage room for machines, not chemicals."

"I think we ran out of room in the normal room. But what I want to know is why we have to put it on those high shelves."

The third soldier walked up and looked at the barrels. "Well, if we put them on the ground, one of the tanks could run over them and cause a pretty big spill. They should be safer up there, I hope." He turned around and waved at the other two. "C'mon, our work here is done, so let's get a bite to eat."

"Oh yeah, I'm starving! We should swing by Uncle Carl's or something!" The two soldiers jogged up to the other one, leaving behind the barrels of chemicals on the self just above Porco Moco, the newest member of Hamelin's military weapon inventory.

* * *

The Hurlabaloo chomped at the piece of sweat babana bread as if it would be taken away before he could finish it. The other familiars ate with a similar eagerness (save the calm and elegantly nibbling Umberwood) but Gunther's eating was something else entirely.

"Gunther! Slow down and chew your food!"

But the blonde's advice came too late, as by the time she finished her sentence, the piece of bread had disappeared.

"Well…I guess that means they like my cooking, at least."

The familiars munched on their babana bread while Esther and Swaine had plates of spaghetti. The tamer fidgeted anxiously as her friend tried her cooking.

"Um…so how is it?"

"…It's pretty good. It's a lot better than my cooking, that's for sure."

Esther sighed, relieved that her friend was satisfied with her cooking. "I noticed you didn't have a lot of proper food in your kitchen…I thought you weren't eating right."

Swaine chewed as he thought before swallowing and asking, "So…I never got to ask the other night, but what else have you been doing for the past three years, besides taming monsters?"

"Oh, nothing much, I've made some friends with the other girls back home and some other animal tamers from other parts of the world. My father's still a babana merchant, so I've been eating a lot of babanas." She chuckled before continuing, "But babana's aside, he still practices magic."

"Hmm, I see…" Swaine took another bite of his meal, enjoying the taste.

"And you?" Esther cocked her head to the side.

"Eh? What do you mean?"

"What else has been going on with you besides your job at the palace?"

The mechanic almost choked on his food; he had hoped she wouldn't ask that. But he didn't have much of a choice here.

"Oh, well, nothing, just helping out my brother and all."

Esther suddenly cracked a grin and struggled not to laugh as her mouth was full of spaghetti. The man raised an eyebrow at this-he certainly didn't expect _that_ reaction.

The woman had managed to sober up and swallow. "I-I'm sorry, it just when you said that, I remembered that picture on the fireplace. The one of you giving Marcassin a noogie-haha!"

"Oh, that. Yeah, that old thing…" The man looked down with a strange expression; he wore a fond smirk but his eyes conveyed sadness.

"…Is something wrong?"

Swaine looked up to Esther's blue eyes. He sighed, knowing she wouldn't accept a simple 'no, I'm fine,' for an answer.

"…That photo in the frame was actually taken from a newspaper about a year ago." Esther raised her delicate eyebrows at this. "Marcassin and I were just minding our own business and talking in the hallway. I can't remember what we were talkin' about, but after we did I gave my little brother a noogie, as you could see." Swaine smirked at the memory as Esther giggled, remembering the humorous picture. "…What I didn't know was there were a few paparazzi stalking pretty boy and took a picture of us. I didn't notice it until the camera flashed…my street smarts must have gone rusty."

The mechanic looked down, ashamed of letting his guard down that day. He was snapped out of his trance as he felt something warm lightly tap his hand. It was Esther's hand.

"…Go on…"

"…anyway, it was in all the papers the next day, and people started to gossip about it. It's not that I give a damn about my reputation but being the center of attention just isn't my style. And my occupation only makes it worse."

"Hm? You mean being a mechanic?"

"Not just any mechanic. I didn't tell you this, but… I'm the Top-Head Engineer at the palace-that's like the equivalent of being the boss of all the inventors and mechanics in the entire kingdom. I started as a regular one three years ago, but I was so good at tinkering that I got promoted as time passed. I didn't think it would change anything, so I accepted them." He shut his eyes in regret. "I wish I had just stayed a plain old average Joe mechanic. Everybody that I meet-at work and outside of work-treats me like I'm some bigwig. It's probably a habit from being a thief, but all this attention I get just gives me a headache."

Swaine rubbed his fingers on his eyes, frustrated. His previous occupation had given him a mindset that couldn't be undone-that he hated unnecessary attention to himself- and now his current job has him in the spotlight where ever he goes. The man twirled the spaghetti around his fork, concentrating on the stringy meal.

"Generally, my problem is my big-all-important job plus my relationship with the ruler of the kingdom-and that equals a hurricane of attention on me. I can't walk two steps without someone not knowing who I am or talking about me."

Esther was quiet the whole time as Swaine told his tale of the past few years. She kept her blue eyes on him as he spoke, taking in the information. When Swaine finished with a sigh, the woman stared at her plate, fiddling with her hair.

"…Actually Swaine, I've been having some similar problems back home, too."

The mechanic looked up. "Huh?"

"After our adventures with Oliver, I had gained a reputation as a famous animal tamer. It was exciting at first because people recognized me for my talents and accomplishments. In the past, everyone respected me because I was the daughter of a Great Sage. They were probably afraid if they didn't they'd be in big trouble. To be honest…it was kind of lonely." She pulled at her long blonde bangs as she paused. "That's why I always liked being with animals; they didn't judge me for who my father was and they were true friends. They're not afraid to show their love."

As that last sentence passed her lips, Spooky floated over to the tamer and nuzzled comfortingly at her soft cheek. Esther released a giggle at the tickle of this eerie pet's affection. Stroking its pale body, she continued her story.

"Anyway, after I gained my fame for being 'a world class animal whisperer' as some people called it, I found out it was the same problem all over again. In fact, it was worse; my talent as an animal tamer plus my relationship with a Great Sage results in me being treated differently from everybody else." Her blue eyes shone with sadness, the color of loneliness. "I…I just wanted to be normal."

Swaine listened, intrigued by his friend's talk. He had never expected anybody else to feel a similar way to what he was feeling these past few years. Like him, she was close to a Great Sage and although her job wasn't 'important' it was widely recognized that she was above the rest. It was almost identical to his issues. He was so lost in thought that he almost didn't hear what she huffed out next.

"And to top it all off, now that I'm a grown woman, all the boys back home won't leave me alone."

Had Swaine been eating or drinking at the moment she said this, he probably would have choked. Thankfully he wasn't consuming anything at the time.

"W-wait, what do you mean by that, exactly?"

"They keep throwing themselves at me, 'confessing their love' and begging to go out with me."She drummed the table in an irritated manner with her pretty finger. "They care for the image of me, a 'talented, beautiful blonde', not who I truly am. And furthermore, I don't particularly feel anything for them. Not that they're all bad or anything, but I just don't feel any…attraction to them. No magic or chemistry or whatever you call it."

"…Wow."

Esther raised an eyebrow. "Huh? What's so 'wow'?"

"I'm having that sort of problem, too! Well, sorta."

"Oh? Our womanizing Swaine has a bit of a woman problem now?" Esther grinned in amusement.

"No, not that kind of problem, and I'm not a womanizer, for cryin' out loud."

She raised a finger up, "You flirted with my soulmate Myrtle AND I saw you wink at Queen Cassiopea after the battle."

"…Whatever. Anyway, my problem is with my brother."

Esther cocked her head to the side in confusion. "What? Prince Marcassin?"

"Yeah. Lately he's been trying to convince me to try and become 'an eligible bachelor'." He put air quotes around the last part with his fingers, rolling his eyes. "Says I should 'have someone special in my life' or whatever. He tries to come up with these 'ideas' to try and clean me up and stuff. Last time he shaved off my stubble!" His hand came up protectively around his chin. "You have no idea how weird it is to go around without something you've had for over fifteen years...Ever since then I've been steering clear of my brother whenever I get the feeling that he's up to something involving me."

"Oh, I see…" Esther nodded her head just before a yawn escaped her lips.

"Eh? Is my story boring you?" Swaine said, but then he broke out a yawn as well.

He was suddenly aware of how all the familiars were asleep on the floor, how dark it was outside, and what the hands of the old clock read. It was almost midnight.

"It's pretty late…" The mechanic looked at his friend as she rubbed the sleep from her eyes. He stood up from his chair, knowing he would have company over for one more night.

"C'mon, sleepy head. Let's get you to bed."

After guiding a sleepy Esther to his bedroom, Swaine collapsed once again on the couch. However, it was now free of its mustiness, making it a bit more comfortable._ "Maybe Esther's cleaning spree isn't so bad after all…"_ He shut his eyes and drifted into a deep, peaceful slumber as he snored softly. (Okay, maybe not so softly, but at least it didn't wake up anybody else.)


	6. Chapter 6: A Serious Malfunction

**Ch6. A Serious Malfunction**

It was a bit past midnight at the Hamelin palace. Everything was silent and still, just like the darkness that surrounded the area. The machine storage room was in this state as well, along with the dark barrels that stood on the high shelf. Porco Moco was as still as a lifeless lump of steel.

The peaceful stillness was broken by the sound of a window cracking and the sight of a few shards of sharp glass falling to the floor from a very high window. A man of medium build emerged from the opening as he dropped down a coil rope and slid down to the ground. He was dressed in black from his black shoes to his dark mask, only allowing his grey eyes to be seen. Looking left and right, he waved his hand to signal the other two robbers the coast was clear.

The first of the pair was dressed in a similar manner but was much burlier and his shirt looked like it would burst at any moment with the flex of his muscles. He was about to jump down but slipped and grabbed a nearby shelf to stop his fall. The metal creaked under this great weight and after a moment, it gave way to the 200 pound man, sending him with some barrels crashing down on Porco Moco.

"Hey! Be quiet! The guards will hear!" The third robber hissed from his perch. He was short and a bit on the plump side but his tiny black eyes showed one thing; this guy meant business. He descended down the rope like the first one and looked around.

"Hey, boss, this isn't the treasury room!"

"Of course not, you dummy. It's down the hall. Don't you remember the plan?" The grey eyed man in black waved his arms in frustration as the burly one examined the barrels.

"As-tif-iz…what the hell is this stuff?" Giving up on the long label, he opened up the cork to see the contents for himself. The barrel was full of a foul smelling murky liquid. The robber's nose wrinkled in disgust. "Uugh! This stuff reeks!" Carelessly tossing it to his side, he did the same to the other barrels with fancy labels, only to find other bizarre chemical contents and spilling them all over the tank he sat upon.

"Hey, what are you doing, stupid?! Stop foolin' around and change into these disguises!" The short man hissed to the burly robber. Jumping down, he landed on the ground and stretched his arms-accidentally pushing a leaver to his left.

The tank that he was sitting on moments ago now awoke from its slumber, and Porco Moco roared to life. However, as the power was pulsing through its engine, the various liquids that the muscular robber had carelessly poured all over it sunk into the tank's system. The weapon sparked with electricity and clanked with bizarre movements as if it was panicking. Its canon spun in circles and the tires heaved back and forth with erratic flashes of light.

"What the- What did you do now, you dummy?"

"I didn't do anything! Maybe it was you, shorty!"

"How many times do I have to tell you not to call me that?!"

"Quit it! The guards will hear us if we don't shut this gizmo down!" The leader barked his orders as he fiddled with the controls without a clue-he couldn't even tell if the tank was reacting to them or not.

"Hang on boss, I've got an idea!" The burly crook wrapped his large arms around the control panel. Grunting, he lifted it up, disconnecting it from the pedestal it rested upon. Porco Moco slowly stopped its panicky motions, no longer making a racket.

"Phew. Nice one. Now let's get into these and get to the treasury room before we have company!" The leader pulled out three sets of Hamelin armor and began to put on the heavy clothing.

As they were occupied with the costumes, Porco Moco's 'eyes' suddenly flashed a deep red. The lights pierced in the direction of the intruders, readying its canon. The steady heaving of its engine echoed steadily throughout the room.

"…Huh? Hey boss, do you hear something?"

"Eh? Hey, yeah, I do….it sounds like…an engine runnin' or-"

"…B-boss? Shorty? Y-You may want to see this."

The three crooks looked behind them to be welcomed by a sight that would haunt their dreams for the rest of their lowly lives.

* * *

"So you sure you've got everything?" Swaine leaned against the frame of his front door as Esther petted Spooky on the head.

"Yup, harp and everything." She stood up and walked to the door. "You take good care of Spooky now, okay? And make sure you take better care of yourself."

"Okay, okay, I will, relax." The man crossed his arms. "What are you, my mom?"

Esther merely rolled her eyes as she walked through the door. After a few steps, she stopped and turned around. "…It was nice to see you again, Swaine. Thank you for letting me stay the night."

"Oh, sure," Swaine scratched the back of his hair. "It was nothing, no problem."

Esther smiled and waved as she said, "Well, good-bye! Until we meet again, Prince of Swine!"

"Heh, okay, later, Little Miss Familiar Tamer." The mechanic waved back. The blonde turned around and walked away with her heels softy clunking along the pavement. She only took a few steps before something stopped her.

"…Hey, wait! Esther, wait!"

The woman turned around to see her friend jogging up to her-and tripping just before he reached her.

"E-Esther…Um…" The man scratched his hair again, this time in thought.

"What? Did you forget what you wanted to say?" She put her hands on her hips, smiling with amusement.

"N-No! It's just…Well…" He looked down to his shoes, trying to fight the color rising to his cheeks. "…I-I should be the one thanking you. I mean, you cleaned my entire house and cooked that spaghetti…so…thanks." His hand was completely buried in his hair now, "You come back to visit now, alright? I-I mean, Spooky here's gonna miss you and your cookin'."

The Bougie floated up to Swaine's shoulder and rubbed up against it in agreement.

"Of course I'll visit, silly! And you too, Spooky!" The Bougie purred with joy. "…But not just so I can come and clean your house and cook for you; I'm not a house keeper, after all! So don't try to get out of it, okay?" She waved her finger in his face warningly, her blue eyes staring at his brown ones.

"Yeah, I get it. Who do you think I am?"

"You're Swaine, that's who."

Swaine barked with laughter as Esther rolled her eyes before saying, "Well, see you soon then! I've got to get going. My father's probably worried sick and Tengri's waiting!" She jogged off, waving.

"Good-bye, Swaine!"

"See ya' around, Esther!"

After a few steps the blonde disappeared around the corner, out of the man's sight. He was still for a moment and then turned around to his home along with Spooky. The home was much better without its exhibit of dust. Walking over to the couch, he plopped down in the middle and leaned his head back, staring at the ceiling. As Spooky floated into Swaine's chest, the man's mind drifted, not thinking of anything in particular with a goofy grin on his face. He was taking the day off from work at the palace and was content with chilling on the once-dust infested couch.

_Brrring! Brrring!_

Swaine's eyebrows shot up; he had already called the palace earlier about taking the day off, so who would be calling him?_ "Don't tell me it's Sam again…"_

The man picked up the phone, "Hello? What do ya' want?"

He was answered by the hum of static.

_"Huh, that's weird…The phone worked just fine this morning…"_

He tried to talk into the receiver again, "Hello? Anybody there?"

"ZZZt…Swa-zzzt-ne…zzzt."

His eyebrows shot up; the voice sounded very familiar.

"Wait…Marcassin, that you?"

"Zzzt-es…com-zzzt-help! We-zzzzzt-oco is-zzzzt."

"Eh? What did ya' say? I can't hear you though all this static!"

"Zzzt-alace, hurry! We ne-zzzzzt-atta-zzzt-"

The call was cut off, leaving only the buzz of the unused phone and the echo of Marcassin's words behind in Swaine's ears. _"What the hell is going on? Why was it cut off? And what was with all that static?"_ The mechanic hung up the phone, concentrating on the bits of words he heard from the phone.

_"Well, he said 'help' and 'hurry'…and I think he said 'palace'…but it's not like he'd be anywhere else."_ His eyebrows knitted together on his forehead. He ran to his bedroom and grabbed a fresh packet of bullets, stuffing them into his coat pocket. He also reloaded his handgun, making sure it was fully loaded.

"_I've got a bad feeling about this…I gotta go check on Marcassin at the palace."_

Swaine ran through the front door, locked it briskly, and made his way to the palace as fast as his wiry legs would take him. He took every shortcut he knew of and never stopped to catch his breath-or at least tried. He was half way to the palace before his body demanded him to stop to catch a breather. The man leaned heavily on a lamppost as he panted for his breath. _"Can't run like I used to…Either I'm out of shape from being a mechanic or I'm getting old…"_

Just as Swaine had regained his breath, there was a loud boom. And it came from the north of the kingdom-the palace.

* * *

Flapping his enormous wings, Tengri flew back to the ground just outside of Hamelin's entrance, where a certain blonde woman stood. She ran up and hugged the reptile's face as Tengri cuddled next to his master.

"Hiya, Tengri! Sorry to keep you waiting! Ooh, aren't you a good boy?"

"Kyah! Kya-"

**BOOM!**

"Huh? What was that?" Esther turned around as her blonde hair waved behind her. She could even feel the impact of the sound as it vibrated in the ground bellow her heels. Tengri looked to the city with worry swirling in his green eyes.

"…Kya?"

"Was that…an explosion? Oh no…!" Esther ran back towards the industrial city with her cape and hair trailing behind her.

* * *

Raising his Imperial Scepter in the air, the ruler of Hamelin shouted, "Thunderball!" A sphere of electricity swirled at the tip of the long wand and rushed towards the destructive Porco Moco. With a mighty zap, the ball of energy hit the tank head on. But the machine simply shook its 'head' and fired its fat cannon.

Marcassin raised his arms in defense, but was still sent flying back a good couple of yards and his scepter was thrown out of his reach, hitting the tile with a clink-clink.

He got to his feet as the dozens of guards around the mechanical monster tried to damage it with their guns, with little luck. Marcassin reached for his prized wand and whipped back around as the scepter's tip glowed blue. The Great Sage drew a complicated symbol in the air.

"THUNDERRAGE!"

A loud clap of thunder snapped in the room and a bright bolt of lightning pierced its electrified tip into the technological beast. Porco Moco was frozen for a moment, but not seriously affected. Prince Marcassin, his energy used up on that last spell, collapsed to his knees as he gasped for his breath. The nightmarish tank aimed its snout cannon at the poor porcine prince…

_Bang!_

Porco Moco had a blinding shot to his eye and backed off as it tried to regain its vision.

"Hah! Have a taste of my Blindshot!"

Marcassin looked behind him to the gruff voice he knew so well.

"S-Swaine!"

"Yo. What's up with Porco buddy here?" Swaine loaded another slug into his pistol.

"Last night some robbers came into the palace to steal the treasury, but got in through the machine storage ro-look out!" Porco Moco brought his 'arm', which was a heavy metal gun, down and smashed into the tile. The two men jumped out of the way, narrowly dodging the deadly strike.

"…Anyway, some chemicals were stored in that room as well, and the crooks spilt it all over Porco Moco, and I think that caused it to short circuit and malfunction like th-duck!"

"Duck? Where-Aah!"

The brothers and surrounding soldiers ducked and covered their heads while Moco fired his guns with a mighty rat-tat-tat-tat-tat. Once he had stopped, his red eyes suddenly focused on something in the distance, behind Swaine and Marcassin-the hallway leading to the city.

_Vrroom, VRROOM…_

Porco Moco's engines roared with determination as its eyes targeted behind a certain pair of men.

"Oh shit…" Swaine's eyes widened as the monster-machine began to charge in his direction. Grabbing Marcassin's arm, he pulled them to the side, out of the furious tank's path. Porco Moco sped past them and down the hall at a blinding speed, leaving black tire tracks in its wake.

"Everyone!" The prince called out to the soldiers behind him, "This way! We must stop that machine before it reaches the cit-"

BANG! BANG! **BANG!**

"…Too late." Swaine deadpanned out the painful fact as the thud of the palace doors collapsing echoed in the air.

"Oh no…" Marcassin turned around. "Everybody, the tank has entered the city. Evacuate nearby citizens and bring back-up equipment!" He ran down the hall as Swaine followed him, reloading his gun as he raced down the path.

After maneuvering by the sorry remains of the palace doors, they reached the city of Hamelin. Porco Moco was firing like a mad-machine, damaging buildings and infrastructure with his bullets. The red lights in its eyes showed no mercy and aimed at anything it could.

"STORM-ROAR!"

The Sage casted another powerful spell as he shouted at the top of his lungs. Thunder rumbled through the area and several sharp lightning bolts shot towards Porco Moco. This time the machine was ready; it raised its cannon upwards and absorbed the powerful shock. It then turned around and aimed his cannon at the Great Sage. An electrified bullet burst out and zoomed towards Marcassin. Had Swaine not pulled him out of the way, the Prince would have been electrocuted to a crisp.

The mechanic took notice of his younger brother's heavy breathing. "Hey, you okay? You're not lookin' so hot."

"Huff…huff…I used up…most of my magic…back in the palace…used some of…my physical energy…on that last…spell…huff." Marcassin fell to his knees in exhaustion, leaning on his beloved staff.

Swaine searched his pockets, trying to find something-anything-that could restore his brother's magic energy or health. All he found was spare ammo for his gun.

"Dammit! Where's a tonic when you need one?!"

A hand wearing a golden bracelet suddenly appeared in front of his face, holding a bottle of tonic. "Right here!"

The men looked up to see a blonde lady bending down in front of them. Marcassin's eyes stared at the familiar stranger as Swaine's flashed with recognition.

"Esther!"

"E-Esther? Is that really you?"

The tamer nodded as she pulled off the cork of the green bottle and handed it to the tired prince. "Mh-hmm, now drink up." Marcassin raised the bottle to his lips and drank the bitter liquid. Wiping his mouth with the back of his sleeve, he stood up, starting to feel the effects of the foul-tasting tonic.

"It's been so lo-GET DOWN!"

The three friends ducked to the ground as Porco Moco unleashed a wave of flames from his flamethrowers. The pig-like tank hissed with steam like an enraged snake as it glared ominously at the trio.

Marcassin raised his scepter again, "Thunder-"

A rough hand was placed on his shoulder, "Whoa there, princey. In case you haven't noticed from your past moves, those kinds of spells won't make a dent on our crazy friend here."

"Huh?" Esther turned to the ex-thief. "But aren't storm attacks usually effective against mechanical monst-" She was cut off as Porco Moco prepared its canon in their direction. The three ran in the opposite direction as the bullets missed them by inches.

"About your question; some weird chemicals got on Moco here and made him go crazy. My money's on whatever they spilt on him made him immune to those kinds of attacks."

"So…what's the plan?"

Marcassin burrowed his brow in thought before turning around. "We hit him with whatever else we've got." He summoned a fireball at the end of his scepter, "If storm spells won't work, we'll have to find his new weakness."

"Okay then. Here, Gogo!" Esther's Electrongo jumped out of her chest. He spun his tiny staff around as a water bomb began to form.

"Fine with me. Time to rumble, Gunther!" Grunting for some action, the blue Hurlabaloo charged out of Swaine's chest, flexing his burly arms.

Porco Moco 'snorted' through his canon, as if saying 'Hmph! You really think you can even make a dent on me? I'd like to see you try.' He, too, prepared for his move, adjusting the barrels of his arm-guns and aimed his cursors over the humans.

"Porco Moco! Prepare to have your destructive deeds stopped for good!"

"Everybody, stay calm, now!"

"Ha! Fancy your chances, do you?"


	7. Chapter 7: Friendship on the Battlefield

**Ch7. Friendship on the Battlefield**

"Everyone, this way! Hurry, everybody must evacuate the area!" Hamelin soldiers escorted lines of citizens out of the city and away from the main street where the Hamelin ruler and his friends were doing everything they could to stop Porco Moco's rampage of destruction.

The bangs and booms of the possessed tank resonated in the smoggy air as it shot deadly projectiles at the trio. Marcassin drew a symbol in the air and summoned a ring of icicles around the tank. They sank their icy sharp edges into the machine, hoping to damage the target…but failed as they shattered with the piercing sound of ice breaking. Porco Moco swayed his canon arm at the prince but was stopped as Gunther leaped upon Porco Moco's 'face' and hammered his fists on the tank's eyes.

Moco was not happy with this annoying little familiar. He spun his head around like a top, trying to shake the Hurlabaloo off. Gunther held on tightly but the tank was simply spinning too fast. At last he was tossed away as his grip had given up.

"Gunther! Hang on boy, I'm commin'!" Swaine ran towards his familiar with outstretched arms. "Come on back, Gunther!" Gunther aimed for the man's chest and disappeared back into Swaine's heart. He raised his gun up at the tank.

"You want some of this? Fine, come and get it!"

Swaine fired his gun with a mighty _bang, bang, bang!_ Hitting the machine's red eyes, the glass that protected them was now shattered…but not out of order. It now had eyes with sharp glass surrounding them, giving them a horrifying appearance as they were tinted red by the lights.

Somebody whistled sharply, catching the attention of the monster as it turned around. Esther raised her harp, "Hey, take this!" She played her harp madly as awful, earsplitting notes screeched through the air. The vibrations sent painful shivers up the tank's system while Swaine and Marcassin covered their poor ears. Porco Moco's gaze intensified on the annoying blonde. He whipped out his arm cannon at her, sending her flying to a wall with a thud. Her harp was dropped to the side and the tank ran his large tires over it, reducing it to a pile of wood and strings with dull cracks.

Esther fell to the ground, her eyes closed. The tank opened up an apartment in its 'chest' and revealed a lethal looking canon, even bigger than the one on his snout. Swaine's eyes widened with realization on what it was planning to do. _"Oh no…Not that move!"_

He ran over to the unconscious woman. She defiantly wasn't dead, but there was no way she would be moving out of the way anytime soon. He picked her up just as the cannon was about to fire. Swaine's mind began to work in slow motion…the cannon blasting…shutting his eyes…bracing for the impact while holding Esther…a bright blue light…

Wait-a blue light? _"What the hell?"_

Swaine opened his eyes, taking in his surroundings-he was no longer in his previous spot by the wall, but a few meters to the left of the tank. The place where he once stood was now nothing but a pile of rubble, soot, and some smoke. He blinked a few times and looked down to see Esther starting to snap out of her unconsciousness.

"…Mm? Wh…What happened?"

"Oh, well it looks like sleeping beauty is up among the living again!"

Esther was still weak, but she managed to sarcastically glare at her friend. "Ha ha, very amusing."

"Esther, are you alright?" A concerned male voice called out from behind Swaine's shoulder.

Esther's blue eyes grew large with surprise. "F-Father!"

Swaine turned around to see The Great Sage Rashaad standing as he held his wooden scepter with golden rings around the top. He wasn't much different than three years ago, save a couple of small wrinkles on his face.

"M-Mr. Rashaad? When did you get here?"

"Aar, just now, my scruffy friend!"

The mechanic looked around to see the familiar sky pirate captain, Kublai, standing besides The Great Sage Khulan.

"Tengri came back to Al-Mamoon and brought me here. He looked so worried and he didn't bring Esther back so I feared the worst…On our way back here, we ran into The Iron Wyvern, and Khulan and Kublai joined us as well." He gazed at his daughter who was gently being put back on her feet by Swaine. "…When I saw it attacking you, I used a teleporting spell to get you out of harm's way." Rashaad raised his staff and sent out a powerful pulse spell at the mechanical beast that dared to harm his daughter.

Porco Moco' steam hissed in pain as he felt his engine system being physically harmed. He whipped his eyes back towards the six humans, his lust for destruction reflecting in his eyes.

"Wait-I think that last spell worked!"

"So it's physical attacks that it needs, eh?" Kublai pulled out his pirate sword. "Well, then here it comes! Prepare to meet the wrath of Kublai! Aaaarrrrg!"

The rugged pirate charged at the tank with his sword glinting without mercy. He leaped up and raised his weapon and struck-or would have if Porco Moco hadn't hit him aside with his arm.

"Oof! Argh…Ha! It'll take more than that to scratch me!"

Khulan ran and stood between the pirate and the machine. "Kublai, let me distract it before you strike. Once you see an opening, take it by surprise." Khulan raised her green gloved arms and summoned a purple sphere of mist around her. A second later, a dozen more appeared all around and melted into multiple Khulan's.

Porco Moco looked around for a minute before zooming in on a Khulan to his right. He readied his flame thrower and it roared with flames. She jumped to the side with a shocked expression, narrowly dodging a hot, fiery fate. The other Khulan's vanished into clouds of purple mist.

"Hmm…It appears my illusions won't work on this machine."

Marcassin ran to her side. "Porco Moco is the latest addition to the Hamelin military technology arsenal and has heat-sensing vision so it can target a foe in the dark-he probably saw the heat radiating off of your body and-"

"Everybody, stand aside!" Swaine hollered out as his gun was loaded and ready to shoot. "'Ey, Porky! Try this on for size!" The man fired several shots at the metal pig, aiming for the tiny openings of the machine that served as room for it to bend and move. When he was finished, the tank's movements were restricted, his joints jammed.

"Now, Kublai!"

The pirate stood up, "Much appreciated, my scruffy friend." Once again he charged with his sword raised. "Aargh! Have a taste of my wrath, you foul swine!" Jumping in the air, he thrust his sword into a gap between Porco Moco and his right arm canon. Kublai grunted, summoning all of his strength to break off the mechanical limb. Porco Moco began to spin again like a top to throw the muscular man off. The strong man held on and continued to try and break the metal as the world blurred before him like a horrifying merry-go-round.

"Uuurgh…Damn, what is this thing made off, diamonds?" Marcassin watched the poor man spin in circles as he cursed the fact that he couldn't cut this monster.

"Um, actually its armor is a combination of shadow glass and raw steel, and is very strong…"

Moco's spinning had loosened up the bullets that had chained his movements and came to a sudden halt, sending the captain flying in the air and over a building.

"Aaaaaaarrrrgh!"

"Kublai!"

"He's a sky pirate, so he should be fine; right now we've got to stop porky here!" Swaine reached into his pocket for more ammo. "Okay, Moco, you-huh?" His eyes suddenly grew wide and dug his hand into other areas of his trench coat. "...Oh, great…I'm out of bullets. Can this day get any worse?"

Moco snorted some steam from his engine as if he was saying "Hah! What now, you useless human?" He revved his engines with ferocity, daring the thin man to try.

Swaine looked up, raised his arm, and pulled the trigger. "Here goes nothing…" The pistol's grappling hook flew out towards the tank. It made contact with a clink as it caught the door of the engine hold and flew back, claiming a tiny gear as a prize.

The insides of the machine could be seen at work through the new opening. The mechanical pig hissed with pain as if the man had torn a bone from his body. The man's eyebrows shot up, an idea starting to shape in his mind.

"Hey, Esther! You distract Moco here, I'm going in!"

"What?! But you're out of bullets!" The blonde tamer ran up to his side. "You could get hurt! Or die!"

"Just trust me on this, alright?"

"No! You can't just go charging in without anything to protect yourself with!" She gripped on his arm tightly, halting Swaine in his tracks.

"Esther, I'm a grown man-I know what I'm doing!"

"So you know you're killing yourself?" She bent forward with her hands on her hips like she always did when they argued.

"No, I am not! I'm gonna to stop Porky here!" He mimicked her stance; bent forward and with a frustrated glow in his eyes. Their faces were mere inches apart.

"Look, _you_ don't have a weapon and you're not dead yet!"

"Hey, leave my harp out of this!"

"You're dense, you know that?"

"Well, you're an idiot!"

"Oh yeah? You're a-"

_Swip!_

A dangerously sharp dagger flew past between the couple's faces as it hit a nearby post box, its tip stuck in the metal. The two were frozen for a moment before they slowly turned in the direction the weapon came from to see a rugged pirate standing on a roof above them.

"Aargh, save your quarrels for later, maties! We have bigger pigs to fry now!"

Porco Moco was relentlessly launching his guns at Rashaad and Marcassin as the two sages did their best to avoid being blasted to pieces. Swaine looked back to Esther.

"Okay, look, you want me to avoid getting killed, right? Then make sure our mechanical friend here doesn't see me behind him, got it?"

"But what are you going to do?"

Swaine shouted over his shoulder, "Shut him down for good, that's what!" and ran off.

The menacing tank was about to aim his chest canon out before he felt a hard rock hit his head. Turning around to Esther, he hissed with aggravated steam.

"H-Hey! Yeah you, stupid! Over here!"

She waved her arms and jumped swiftly away. Moco placed his aiming cursor over the tamer…only to have her disappear from the radar again. He twitched with surprise as he saw her again-and saw her vanish. The desert girl moved with such swiftness and grace that one would think she was part ninja.

"Yeah, over here! No, over here! Hey, you!"

Porco Moco growled as his enraged gears turned. He switched to machine-gun mode and fired with the loud bangs echoing though the steamy air. The tiny bullets hit the path of the dancer-and eventually hit the ground by her feet, causing her to trip. The machine then fired a special blackish blob at her feet, hitting the ground with a sticky splat.

Esther tried to move out of the way, but she was stuck; the splatter was some kind of glue that nailed her to her spot. Porco Moco recognized this and opened his chest canon, ready for the finishing blow. _"Hmph. So long, pitiful huma-"_

"Oh no, not this time!"

"Huh?"

Moco tried to move his head to see the gruffy voice's owner, but couldn't-Swaine was on the very back of Moco's head, digging in the engine compartment. He began to pull out gears, wires, and pipes from the opening, making Porco Moco leak steam out in the wrong spots of his body.

"Dammit, this would be a lot easier with a wrench." Swaine struggled to loosen up the parts of the machine; most of it was securely bolted and needed tools to disassemble them. Without a tool on hand, there were only a few select things he could remove from the tank's system.

"Hey, Spooky," The mechanic called out to his ghostly familiar friend as he floated out of Swaine's chest. "Get me a tool box or somethin', and make it snappy!" Spooky nodded and darted away in search of the requested item.

Meanwhile Esther had managed to free herself from the sticky bomb with the help of her father's magic. Once again she was promptly jumping from side to side, confusing the mechanical menace. Unfortunately, Swaine was on the tank this time, and had to hang on for dear life as Porco Moco jerked his head from side to side.

"Whoa! Woaah! Whooooaa!"

"Just _hang_ _on_, Swaine! Haha!"

"This isn't funny, Esther! Whoa!"

Esther suddenly stopped her movements and darted away, "Hey, here boy! Come and get me!" She grabbed a stone from the ground and tossed it at Porco Moco. It hit the tank with an annoying clink and with that, he charged towards her.

Swaine regained his grip on the tank and continued to pull at a gear, but it wouldn't budge. "Rrrr, c'mon, da-" A wide grin carrying a wrench suddenly appeared in front of his face. "'Ey, good boy, Spooky!" The mechanic wrapped his hand around the tool and dove back into the engine. With skilled hands, he briskly removed various bolts and gears from the inside of the monster. Pipes, wires, and motors of every kind flew out as Swaine tossed the objects outside.

Porco Moco twitched and jerked franticly, gravely concerned with what this human was up to. He felt his system failing to respond or operate as his weapons were slowly lowered, out of order.

"Okay, just a few more-huh?" Swaine tugged his arm but his coat sleeve was jammed between two gears. He tried to pry free, but he was hopelessly stuck by the machine. The jam also halted the flow of power. Porco Moco was frozen in his spot. The gears tried harder to do their job of turning, only resulting in a buildup of pressure.

"Oh no…Everybody, get the hell outta here, now!"

Esther shouted, "Why?"

"'Cause Porky's gonna blow!" Swaine yelled back as he continued his attempts to free his arm from the stubborn clutches of the gears.

"W…What?! What about y-"

A high pitched scream of steam ran though the air. The pressure was rising and the machine radiated grave amounts heat. Sweat began to appear on the thin man's forehead.

"Just go, NOW!"

_Wheeeeeeeeeeeeet!_ An unusual whistle was released from the tank.

Prince Marcassin's eyes were glazed in fear with what was about to happen. "…Everyone, we must flee! Away from Porco Moco!" Kublai and Khulan dashed away while Rashaad ran to his daughter, who was still arguing with Swaine.

"Esther! ESTHER!" The Great Sage protectively grabbed his daughter's arm and pulled her away.

"Father! Father, wait! Swaine's still-"

_**KA-BOOM!**_


	8. Chapter 8: The Ash and Aftermath

**Ch8. The Ash and Aftermath**

The explosion's roar vibrated through the air as Rashaad and Esther hit the ground. Esther's eyes went wide as her father came in front of her, protecting her from the shock of the blast. All she could comprehend was the fire over her father's shoulder, the cry of the boom, the smell of smoke and…

…And the possibility that her friend was hurt, if not worse.

After a few moments, the smoke settled and the air was deadly still as if the whole world was still holding its breath. Rashaad got to his feet and helped his daughter up. She was staring at what remained behind her father-ash, a smoldering trail of smoke, and some destroyed metal parts that were coated over with a thick layer of soot.

But no sign of the ex-thief.

"…No…No! Swaine!" Esther ran to the destroyed tank and whipped her head all around, trying to catch sight of anything-_anything_-that could tell her the whereabouts of Swaine. She carefully walked over and around the bits and pieces of the machine and scanned her blue eyes all along the ground. Marcassin and the others had come back running to the heap of the once-mechanical beast.

The pirate's dark brown eyes took in the environment before him. "Aarr, that t'was a mighty explosion. Are you and your lass alright, Rashaad?"

"We are fine, save some soot on my back," The Great Sage brushed some black dust off of the back of his arm but then his eyes were downcast. "…But we do not know the condition of Swaine."

"Swaine! Swaaa-ine! Swaine, where ar-oof!" The animal tamer had tripped on a large lump on the ground and hit the harsh ground face-first. She got up and looked back to see what had caused the fall.

Her blue eyes grew larger as a soft gasp escaped her lips.

Lying on his side and caked in black ash was Swaine.

"S…S-Swaine!"

Esther hurriedly crawled over to get a better look at her friend. His brown eyes were covered by his stone-still eyelids and his limbs were nothing but limp, lifeless appendages. She cautiously touched his shoulder and gently shook it.

"Swaine! Swaine, wake up! Come on, Swaine! Wake up, please!"

Marcassin ran over at the sound of Esther's pleading. He looked down to see his brother, as lifeless as the soot that covered his clothes and hair. The prince's hair swayed side to side with disbelief as he crouched down to the mechanic.

"…No…No, this… this can't…" He raised his shaking hand to a pressure point on Swaine's neck as his green eyes watched for any motion in the older man's chest.

Nothing came. His chest was motionless and there was no pulsing at his neck. The whole time Esther's eyes were staring anxiously at the prince, waiting for an answer.

"…W-Well? Is h-he…?"

The Great Sage met her blue eyes, his own green ones conveying the grave news.

"…N…No…N-no. No, no, it can't-!" Fragile tears forced their way out of Esther's beautiful eyes as they fell on Swaine's face, washing some of the soot away from his face. In between sniffles and chokes of tears, she whispered, "N-no, this-it's not fair…sniff, Swaine, you-you just…sniff…you saved us-and now…and n-now….no, no, this isn't-!" Her emotions chose to erupt at that time as a waterfall of tears poured out of her eyes and her body shook with despair as she held Swaine's head in her lap.

The other two sages and the pirate caught up with the prince and realized the fate of their scruffy friend as the blonde and prince cried an ocean's worth of tears in between murmurings of melancholy.

Esther looked up to her friends with glistening eyes. "F-Father, Khulan, anyone, is there _anything_ that _anyone_ can do to b-bring him back?"

The three adults pondered in thought, desperately searching the libraries of their minds for a solution.

Khulan shook her head, "…I…I don't think so...I may be a Great Sage, but even I can't bring back the dead…"

"…Mmm, I'm afraid there's nothing in my power I can do either, my friend." Kublai scratched his beard with his thick fingers as Rashaad did the same.

But then the babana merchant's eyebrows shot up. "…Wait, your Healing Hymn…I'm not sure this would work, but…" He gazed at his wooden staff, "…I think we could at least try. If we combine our powers with your music, it may strengthen the spell to-wait…"

Esther and Rashaad suddenly realized a flaw in this plan. "My harp…it's…it was smashed in the battle…" More crystal tears rained from her eyes as she cursed herself for not being able to help her friend. Her hands tightened into firmly closed fists.

"'Ey?" The pirate's bushy eyebrows conveyed confusion, "Wait, I thought it was the song that did the magic; why not sing your Healing Hymn?"

Silence settled in the air for a moment, letting the idea sink in.

Khulan knelt down to Esther's side and placed a hand on her shoulder, "…Esther, I can't guarantee that this will work, but I think if we have a chance at saving him, you'll have to use the instrument you've been using since the day you were born; your voice."

Esther stared with glistening eyes for a second before she nodded. Marcassin and Rashaad thrust their staffs into the ground. Khulan raised her green gloved arms up in concentration with Rashaad on her left and Marcassin on her right. The prince's staff radiated a heavenly blue light while Rashaad's gently jingled as the golden rings floated around the wood.

"Okay, Esther, whenever you are ready."

The familiar tamer swallowed a lump in her throat and stood up. Kublai's large hand found her shoulder, and the young lady looked to the rugged brown eyes of the captain. He gave her a reassuring smile. She turned back around, taking a deep breath.

Esther's voice rang out through the Hamelin air. The vibrations that came from her singing echoed in a rejuvenating manner as the healing magic of the three sages intertwined with her song. The atmosphere felt warm and healing as the atmosphere pulsed soothingly. Warm rushes of energy surged down the spines of the sages, their bruises and injuries becoming no more. They all directed most of the magic towards Swaine, however the man remained as still as a lifeless piece of metal, not showing any physical reaction to the spell.

The hymn resonated for a blissful few minutes. As Esther let the wind carry the final note out, the three sages relaxed their arms.

Silence. Simply silence. Dead silence.

Esther looked down to Swaine with a look in her eyes that was somewhere between hope that he would wake up or worry that he would never open his brown eyes again. Marcassin tested for his pulse once again with the same emotions in his royal eyes.

"…N…Nothing. T-There's no pulse."

"…So…My singing…it couldn't-I couldn-cou-"

The desert blonde broke down in uncontrollable sobs. She covered her eyes with her delicate hands but it was in vain; the tears wouldn't stop. The salty droplets fell on the dead chest of Swaine, saturating his orange shirt with Marcassin's tears.

"N…No…Gascon, no…th-this…this wasn't s-supposed to happen…"

As the two young adults shed tears of loss, Kublai and the others joined them in their sorrow with bowed heads of sadness. For a few moments the group was in a trance of melancholy, grieving over the loss of the life of their friend…but was broken at the sound of shuffling ash and metal from a nearby pile of broken machinery.

Out popped Spooky the Bougie, glowing palely but covered in spots of grey soot. The undead familiar coughed a few times and floated over to the lifeless body of his master. The five observed the animal as it sniffed at Swaine's face. The Bougie licked off some of the filthy ash from the man's face.

"….Mmph…Five more minutes…"

Swaine turned his head to the side with his eyes still closed-but this was still a miracle. And the humans were too speechless to do anything but watch the familiar continue to lick his master. Then those peculiar brown eyes cracked open. "Uugh…Spooky, five more minutes-wait, what?" His eyes shot open, finally taking in his surroundings, slowly sitting up.

"Wha…? What happ-uugh!" The thin man gripped his ribs as he felt a sharp pain jolt through his body from them. "Ow…Dammit, what happened?"

"…SWAINE!" Esther reached down and bear hugged the scruffy mechanic back to the ground.

"Oof! H-hey, Esther, what the hell?" He scratched his hair with calloused hands. "…And what happened? I think…I remember dealing with Moco and…then I was stuck by those dammed gears and there was a boom…" The mechanic rubbed his right ear with his palm. "Man, my ears feel like they're gonna fall off any second."

"Who cares about that?!" Esther glared at the man with shining blue eyes, "You-You were almost dead! Do you have ANY idea how WORRIED I was?!"

"Well, your yelling sure isn't gonna help." Swaine attempted to sit up again, this time more slowly. "Whoa, wait a minute-you were _worried_ about_ me?_"

A faint shade of pink blossomed on the tamer's face. "W-Well-I mean-We were all worried about you! We thought you were dead!"

"She's correct, Gascon." Marcassin chimed in. "We all were worried that…that you…that you were gone…"

Swaine looked up to the faces of Kublai, Khulan, and Rashaad, relief washing the worry from their faces. The scrawny man gazed down to his golden haired friend-now noticing the tear stains down her soft cheeks and the few remaining droplets of water glazing her sapphire eyes.

"Um…Well, I'm alive now," he shrugged, slightly wincing at the movement. His younger brother took notice of this.

"Gascon, are you alright? Can you stand?"

"For the love of black truffles, it's Swaine! S-W-A-I-"He was interrupted by a hiss of discomfort as a sharp surge of pain emerged from his ribs yet again.

The Hamelin ruler stood up and said, "Everyone, get Ga-I-I mean Swaine to the hospital, I'm going to go back and get a doctor!" and ran off with his long hair waving behind him.

As Marcassin's footsteps faded away, Rashaad helped Swaine to his feet with his thin arm over the sage's wide shoulders. Swaine's other arm curled around his sore torso.

"Uurg…dammit, I must have broken a rib or two."

"Are you sure you're okay to walk, Swaine?" Esther asked with concern.

"…Yeah, I'm fine. Besides, what would you do then, carry me to the hospital?"

Kublai scratched his beard. "Aargh, maybe. I could probably do it; you're scrawny enough and wouldn't take too much muscle." He let loose a hearty laugh. "Ha, I'd do it bridal style or I could give you a piggy back ride! Ahahaha!"

"…Let's not, okay? I don't think my pride could take that kind of torture." Swaine deadpanned out. Inside he was shuddering at the humiliating images as they made their merry way to the Hamelin hospital.

* * *

"…Just a few broken ribs and bruises, but the doctor said I'd make a full recovery."

Esther breathed a sigh of relief. "I'm glad to hear that. How long will it take?"

Swaine scratched his stubble. "Oh, about eight weeks or so."

The ex-thief was in a simple white hospital bed with Esther on a pale green stool by the bedside. The man's old trench coat hung on the bed's pipe frame as the white sheets covered his body up to the bottom of his chest, hiding the rest of his orange shirt which further concealed the bandages around his torso.

"By the way…remember when Marcassin said the reason behind Porco Moco's rampage was that some crooks broke into the palace and spilt those strange chemicals over the tank?" The mechanic nodded and Esther continued. "Well, I heard that they were arrested and are being forced to fix the mess that Moco made back in Main Street and the palace."

A wry smile surfaced on the mechanic's face. "Suits them; they have to clean up the mess that they caused." He then stared up to the ceiling with a pondering look in his eyes.

"…Swaine? Is something wrong?"

"…Actually, I keep thinkin' about this weird dream I had." He scratched the stubble on his angular chin again. "It was when I was ko'ed by that explosion. I was just floating in space and all I could see was black…I kinda felt like I was drowning in ink or somethin'…but then I heard some music. And the louder it got, the closer I felt to the surface to that pool of ink or whatever…And before I knew it, Spooky was lickin' my face."

Spooky floated out of Swaine's chest with a wagging tail. "No, Spooky, I didn't call for y-ack!" The Bougie excitedly licked the man's face. "No, boy-ack-down, down boy-acpth!"

Eventually the ghostly familiar ceased his affection and floated over to the window sill, where Gogo was munching on some babanas. While the two familiars shared their fruit, Swaine noticed an interesting gleam in the desert blonde's eyes.

"Um-do you remember how the music went?"

"Let's see…actually, now that I think about it, it was singing…and it sounded familiar, but I can't put my finger on where I've heard it before…" The ex-thief tapped his finger on the white sheet.

"Oh…I see…"

Suddenly, his eyebrows shot up at the sound of her voice. "Wait, it…It was…" Esther leaned forward with her sky colored eyes on him, waiting for his answer.

"It was what?"

"…This may sound strange…but I could've sworn that singing…was you…you and your Healing Hymn…" His callused hands rubbed his eyes. "Great, now I've got that stupid song stuck in my head again." When he raised his hand away from his eyes, he was greeted by the sight of Esther's sapphire eyes shining with that same unique shine.

"R-Really?"

"Yeah, why?"

"W-Well, we thought you were dead so…"

As Esther discussed the events that transpired during Swaine's black out, Gogo elbowed his wing at Spooky. He chirped and motioned to their human friends. The Bougie got an enthusiastic smile on his face as Gogo grinned mischievously. Hopping down from his perch, the Electrongo quietly waddled over to the corner of the room facing Esther's back. Spooky glided over as well and curled himself up into a little ball in Gogo's wing. The two remained in the corner, waiting for the right moment to execute their plan.

"So…do you think my singing…saved you?"

"Well, it's hard to say exactly, but if it did," Swaine scratched his curly mess of hair, "Then…thank you, I guess."

"'I guess?' There's a possibility somebody saved your life and all you say is 'thank you, I guess'?" Esther rolled her eyes, "You really are the Prince of Swine."

"Well, at least I'm not a babana girl."

"Well, at least _I'm _not a scruffy moron!"

"At least I'M not little miss familiar ta-mmph!"

The man was interrupted as Gogo threw Spooky at the back of Esther's head, jerking the woman's head forward. The Electrongo's aim was spot on; his master's lips had crashed into the intended target of the other man's mouth.

The couple was frozen in embarrassment and surprise, each with scarlet faces and eyes the size of saucers. Gogo gave his partner-in-crime a high five with Spooky's tail as their master's were locked in this peculiar smooch.

As if to make things worse, Prince Marcassin opened the door. "Hello, Swaine, is everyth-" His green eyes widened as the couple broke the accidental kiss and faced the ruler with even redder faces. Everything and everybody was frozen still as if the world had just pressed the pause button on a TV remote to the events of this room. The porcine prince closed the door without a word and walked away as briskly as he could.

For a moment the two were speechless, lost in their embarrassment before they finally found their voices as they turned to their trouble making familiars

"Gogo!"

"Spooky!"

The plump bird shrugged and the spirit familiar spun in happy circles before they swiftly vanished back into their master's chests before the couple could stop them.

"Gogo! You get back out here right now!"

"Spooky, the moment you come back out, you're dead meat, you hear me?!"

Their only response was nothing. Esther made eye contact with Swaine with uncertainly. The two looked away, not sure what to do now.

"Um…sorry, I guess."

"Uh, it's okay, it was an accident."

"…hmph, more like an immature prank by your pet."

"H-hey, your familiar was in on it too, for your information!"

Instead of barking back, the mechanic actually remained silent and looked to the side. The animal tamer took a deep breath to calm down and sat back down on her stool. She looked in the direction her friend was staring off to but failed to see what he found intriguing in that area.

"…So when do you think you'll go back to Al Mamoon?"

She was caught off guard at this question. "Oh? I'm not sure, a day or so?"

"Mmm…I see."

"Why?"

"Oh-um, well-nothing, just curious. Wanna know how long I've got to put up with ya'."

"…Why does that question not surprise me?"

"Beats me."

Esther tapped her chin sarcastically in thought. "Oh, wait, I know why; you are Swaine, that's why."

"Yep. And you're Esther."

The desert blonde sighed. "Honestly, I don't know why I put up with you." She got up from her stool and began to make her way to the door…but Swaine's voice stopped her.

"…Sorry. But thanks."

"Hm? For what?"

"…For puttin' up with a jerk like me."

She turned around and walked back to the bedside. "Wait, Swaine…you may be an idiot and a moron sometimes but…okay, you are a jerk sometimes. But you're still my friend. So leave the name calling to me, 'kay?" She patted her finger on his forehead. "You calling yourself a jerk is a bit weird…'un-Swaine-like', really."

The man smirked playfully, "Okay, we can do that. And I guess as long as you put up with me, I'll deal with ya'."

"Oh, really?" Sarcasm was intertwined evidently with her voice, "What do you have to deal with?"

"A nosy goody two-shoes who likes to drive yours truly crazy."

"…If you weren't in bed right now, I'd probably slap you for that."

"Heh heh, yeah…And…"

Esther raised her thin eyebrows; what else did this ex-thief have to say? He looked away uncomfortably while his hands were rubbing the fabric of the sheets between his fingers, trying to settle his nerves.

"…I...also have to deal with your talent as an animal tamer, a dancer, a musician…and you're a good cook, too…" Esther's sapphire eyes widened at these compliments; they were the last thing she expected to come out of his mouth. "And your blonde hair…and your blue eyes…and yo-mmph?!"

The man didn't get a chance to finish his sentence as something warm and soft mashed onto his mouth. His brown eyes dilated in surprise with the realization that Esther's lips were pressed purposely against his. It only lasted for a moment and before the man could react, Esther's lips were already pulled away.

"…You better shut up and get some rest. You saying things like that isn't like you at all."

With that the desert blonde walked away and exited out the door without another word. Swaine, still in a state of shock, stared at the door where Esther walked off. His mind was a total blank as if that surprise kiss had erased all of his knowledge and memories with one fell swoop-or smooch, in this case.

Spooky, feeling it was finally safe to come out of his master's heart, floated out of his chest and licked the mechanic's face. Swaine's face was frozen and unresponsive to the Bougie's presence. Giving up on his master, he curled up on the man's lap and closed his tiny eyes, preparing for a nap while in the company of his master's warmth.

* * *

Esther was actually still outside the hospital room, leaning her body on the wall. She hung her head down and utilized her long side bangs to hide the lingering blush on her face. Her hands were clasped in front of her and lightly squeezed each other as the lady wore a smile on her rosy face.

She wasn't sure exactly why she did what she did back there…but for some strange reason, she didn't regret it. The woman sighed and touched her lips with her fingers, remembering the warmth and taste of…

"Chirp! Chir-chirp!"

"H-huh? Gogo?"

Esther's Electrongo had jumped out while she was in her daydream. He chirped kissing sounds with his beak the best he could and fluttered his eyelids-his master's reaction was a bright red blush.

"W-what?! It's not-well-it wasn't-errr-"

"Chi-chirp chirp!" With that, the chubby bird waddled away while whistling the annoying playground tune of "K-I-S-S-I-N-G"-and it didn't take a familiar tamer to know who he was singing about.

Esther's face was now a cross between tomato red and the color of beets. "H-Hey! It's not like that at all! You stop it right now! GOGO, YOU GET BACK HERE RIGHT NOW!" As her waist-cape and hair blazed behind her, she chased her singing familiar, shouting commands of denial and for him to stop, and vanished from sight.

* * *

**Aaaaand...the end! :D Hope you enjoyed it!**


End file.
